Prevalence of Dual-Positivity for Both Hepatitis B e Antigen and Hepatitis B e Antibody Among Hospitalized Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection

Abstract

Objective The detection of dual-positivity for both hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and hepatitis B e antibody (anti-HBe) is not typically performed for patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV). This cross-sectional study was designed to figure out the prevalence of dual-positivity for both HBeAg and anti-HBe (DEP) among hospitalized patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection (C-HBVI). Patients and Methods Data from 2820 cases with C-HBVI from two centers in China were retrospectively analyzed. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were undertaken to identify the risk factors for liver fibrosis (LF) and acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). Results There were 165 (5.9%), 688, and 1903 patients in DEP, HBeAg+/anti-HBe-, and HBeAg-/anti-HBe+ groups, respectively. The DEP patients’ median age was 43.6 years old and 71.5% of them were male. They had higher levels of alanine transaminase, total bilirubin, and international normalized ratio. Furthermore, DEP cases had a higher proportion of liver cirrhosis, and it was associated with non-invasive testing of LF, including aspartate transaminase (AST)-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) >1.5 (odds ratio (OR) = 1.96, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.27–3.03, P = 0.002) and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score >1.45 (OR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.28–3.34, P = 0.003). DEP also contributed to the elevated risk of ACLF (OR = 4.80, 95% CI: 2.02–11.39, P < 0.001). Conclusion DEP cases are at higher risks of LF and ACLF than other patients with HBV infection. A fast diagnosis and an active monitoring of liver diseases for DEP patients are extremely vital.

Effects of Let-7c on the processing of hepatitis B virus associated liver diseases

“…But interestingly, in high T-Bil patients, the level of HBV DNA is strongly positively related to T-Bil levels in our cohorts; while there are no relationship or has a little bit negative association between HBV DNA and T-Bil in normal T-Bil patients. We considered the reason may be that the percentage of the dual-positivity for both HBeAg and anti-HBe patients (12%) is higher than common (0.2–5.9%) [ 42 , 43 ], particularly in B-LC group (20%). So, our results may only mirror the correlation between normal range T-Bil and Let-7c expression.…”