Discov Med. 2018 Oct;26(143):119-125.
Characteristics of hepatitis B core antibody level in the natural history of chronic hepatitis B.
Wang J#1, Yan X#1, Chen Y2, Liu Y2, Wang L3, Jia B1, Wang G3, Xiong Y3, Song P3, Wu W3, Xia J3, Lu S3, Zhang Z3, Huang R3, Wu C3.
Author information
1
Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Clinical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210008, China.
2
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210008, China.
3
Department of Infectious Diseases, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210008, China.
#
Contributed equally
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
We aimed to analyze serum antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) level during different immunological phases in the natural history of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).
METHODS:
Serum anti-HBc levels in the immune tolerant (IT), immune clearance (IC), low replicative (LR), and HBeAg negative hepatitis (ENH) phases from 634 treatment-naïve CHB patients were measured and compared between phases and with other serum markers.
RESULTS:
Median serum anti-HBc levels were different between the phases of CHB. Serum anti-HBc level was highest in the ENH phase and lowest in the IT phase. Serum anti-HBc level correlated only with ALT in the IC phase (r = 0.248, p < 0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of anti-HBc at a cutoff value of 9.03 S/CO for differentiation of IT and IC phases was 0.689 (sensitivity 74.03%, specificity 60.23%). The AUC for differentiation of LR and ENH phases was 0.751 (sensitivity 68.32%, specificity 70.53%) at a cutoff value of 9.74 S/CO for anti-HBc.
CONCLUSIONS:
Serum anti-HBc levels were significantly different across different phases of CHB and were associated with hepatitis activities.