STUDY ON CHARACTERIZATION OF HEPATITIS B CORE - RELATED ANTIGEN (HBcrAg) AT MEDIC MEDICAL CENTER IN HO CHI MINH CITY

Tóm tắt

Objectives: To describe some of the characteristics of hepatitis B core - related antigen (HBcrAg) and determine the correlation coefficient of HBcrAg and serum HBV - DNA concentration in chronic hepatitis B.

Subjects and methods: This cross - sectional descriptive study and analysis included 106 cases at MEDIC Medical Center in Ho Chi Minh city from November 2019 to July 2020.

Results: The rate of HbcrAg - positive patients in study was 71.7%, the mean HBcrAg concentration was 4.15 ± 1.63 log U/mL, distribution range was 2.0 - 7.0 log U/mL.The mean HBcrAg concentration was significantly difference by age group, enzyme ALT elevation, specific treatment, HBeAg status and serum HBV - DNA levels. The serum HBcrAg concentration correlated with the serum HBV - DNA levels in a positive and linear manner with correlation coefficient r = 0.75 in the treatment - naïve patients and r = 0.40 in the treatment - experienced patients.

Conclusions: The study showed a significant difference in mean HBcrAg concentration in the ALT - increased group and in the normal ALT group; in the HBeAg - negative group and HBeAg - positive group; in the undetectable serum HBV - DNA group and detectable HBV - DNA group. The correlation coefficient between serum HBcrAg and HBV - DNA in the study sample was well correlated with r = 0.75 in the patients who were treatment - naïve and r = 0.40 in the patients who were treated with nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs).