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Hepatitis B post‐partum e antigen clearance in hepatitis B carrier mothers: Correlation with viral characteristics
Author(s) -
Lin HoHsiung,
Wu WenYih,
Kao JiaHorng,
Chen DingShin
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of gastroenterology and hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.214
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1440-1746
pISSN - 0815-9319
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1746.2006.04198.x
Subject(s) - hbeag , medicine , hepatitis b virus , genotype , titer , antigen , virology , hepatitis b , immunology , asymptomatic carrier , viral load , virus , gastroenterology , biology , asymptomatic , hbsag , biochemistry , gene
Background: The purpose of the present paper was to correlate hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype, e antigen titer, HBV‐DNA level and precore/basal core promoter mutations with post‐partum e antigen clearance in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)‐positive carrier mothers. Methods: A total of 40 consecutive HBeAg‐positive carrier mothers were studied from January 2002 to January 2003. The blood samples were taken at delivery, 3–4 months and at 1 year after delivery, and the follow‐up period was until 1 year after delivery. All sera were assayed for HBeAg, HBV‐DNA level, HBV genotype and precore/basal core promoter mutations. The correlation between HBV characteristics and post‐partum e antigen clearance was analyzed by Mann–Whitney, Pearson χ 2 and multiple logistic regression tests. Results: The mean age of the 40 HBeAg‐positive carrier mothers was 29.9 ± 5.3 years with a mean parity of 1.4 ± 0.7. Five of them (group I) had post‐partum e antigen clearance, which persisted thereafter, whereas the remaining 35 carrier mothers (group II) had persistent positivity of HBeAg during the follow‐up period. The prepartum comparisons of HBV characteristics between groups I and II were comparable in terms of demographics and distributions of HBV genotype and precore/basal core promoter mutations. In contrast, group I carrier mothers had lower HBeAg titer and HBV‐DNA level than group II carrier mothers (1:80 vs 1:4000, P = 0.02, and 3.75 × 10 5 vs 3 × 10 8 copies/mL, P = 0.028, respectively). Conclusions: Post‐partum e antigen clearance in HBeAg‐positive carrier mothers is closely associated with prepartum low HBeAg titer or HBV‐DNA level.