Correlation of Quantitative Assay of HBsAg and Hepatitis B Virus DNA Levels Among Chronic HBV Patients Attending Pathologist Lancet Laboratory in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) viral load measurements is recommended for diagnosis and monitoring of patients on treatment for Chronic Hepatitis B (CHB). However, these diagnostic techniques are molecular-based and expensive and unavailable to majority of the Kenyan population. Quantitation of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) by automated chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay has been proposed as a surrogate marker. Objectives: This study showed the correlation between HBsAg and HBV DNA levels among patients with CHB attending a referral Laboratory in Nairobi, Kenya. Methods: One hundred and seventy-three (173) patients were enrolled while excluding Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and Hepatitis D Virus (HDV) positive patients. Results:The mean age of the study patients was 37.2 years, 112 (64.7%) were male, and 142 (82.1%) were hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) negative while 31/173 (17.9%) were HBeAg positive. The mean HBV DNA level was 2.89 log10 IU/mL and 41 (23.7%) had a baseline HBV DNA level of > 2000 IU/mL. By Mann-Whitney test, HBV DNA levels differed significantly between HBeAg positive and negative patients (P = 0.001), as did HBsAg titer (P = 0.032). Unfortunately, according to the Spearman test, there was a weak correlation between HBsAg and HBV DNA levels (P = 0.024 and r = 0.171). Conclusions: Patients with HBeAg negative test results had lower levels of HBsAg and lower levels of HBV DNA. Serum quantitation of HBsAg may not replace serum HBV DNA levels among patients with CHB in Nairobi Kenya.

Evaluation of Serum Levels of HBV-DNA Concentration and HBSAG Titers of Hepatitis B Virus-Infected Subjects at NAUTH Nnewi

“…This suggests that HBsAg quantitation may not be an effective alternative to serum HBV-DNA quantification in hepatitis B virus infected patients. This finding is similar to the report of Mathia et al, [26]. HBVDNA, is the template for gene transcription and replication and level is the most important and most direct etiological evidence for HBV.…”

“…This finding is in agreement with that of Yewande et al, [27]. The children (<20) and the aged (>50) have less exposure to risky behaviours than the middle aged (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40).…”

Serological and Molecular Detection of Hepatitis B virus among patients referred to Kurdistan Center for Hepatology and Gastroenterology in Sulaimani City/Kurdistan Region of Iraq

“…The current study showed that not all HBsAg seropositive patients were positive for HBV DNA detection by RT-PCR, which was agreed with observations reported by a study done in Nairobi (Kenya) in 2017 by Mathai et al [27]. They reported that the seropositive results of HBsAg and HBV DNA detection are totally different, and none of ELISA and RT-PCR cannot be alternative for each other [28].…”

Evaluation and Determination of Quantitative Hepatitis B Surface Antigen Diagnostic Performance in Chronic Hepatitis B Virus-Infected Patients

“…An earlier study [ 11 , 18 ] supports this observation. In another study, no significant correlation was observed between qHBsAg and HBV-DNA in both HBeAg-positive and negative patients (r = 0.309, p = 0.093; r = 0.065, p = 0.443; respectively) [ 19 ]. On the contrary, an earlier Korean study revealed a weak but significant positive correlation between qHBsAg and HBV-DNA; however, this relationship was not observed during the late replicative phases of CHB infection [ 20 ].…”