Quantitative HBsAg titers in relation to disease progression and serum markers of iron metabolism among chronic hepatitis B patients

Abstract

Aims: To investigate quantitative hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) titers in relation to disease progression and serum markers of iron metabolism in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. Methods: A total of 99 treatment-naïve CHB patients [median (min/max) age: 39.0 (17-66) years, 61.6% were males] with HBsAg positivity for at least six months were included in this study. Data on patient demographics, quantitative HBsAg titers (IU/mL), liver enzymes, hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels, fibrosis stage, necroinflammatory scores and serum iron parameters including serum Fe (μg/dL), total iron binding capacity (TIBC; μg/dL), transferrin saturation (%), and ferritin (ng/mL) were recorded and compared with respect to gender and age (median age <40 years vs. ≥40 years). Results: Serum Fe (78.2 ± 29.5 vs. 111.7 ± 36.8 μg/dL, p = 0.001), transferrin saturation [0.2 (0.1-0.5) vs. 0.3 (0.1-1.0) %, p < 0.001], and ferritin [27 (3.9-298) vs. 100 (31-994) ng/mL, p < 0.001] levels were significantly lower in females than in males. Quantitative HBsAg titers were correlated with age negatively in males overall (r = -0.328, p < 0.001) and positively in females >40 years of age (r = 0.722, p < 0.001). In females, quantitative HBsAg titers were positively with fibrosis stage (r = 0.491, p = 0.002), necroinflammatory grade (r = 0.235, p = 0.049), and ferritin (r = 0.288, p = 0.011) regardless of the age. In males, HBsAg titers were

Novel Biomarkers of Hepatitis B Virus and Their Use in Chronic Hepatitis B Patient Management

“…Baseline levels of HBsAg (<3 log 10 IU/mL) and HBV DNA (<3.3 log 10 IU/mL) were associated with a minimal risk of developing HCC after 10–15 years of follow up, with qHBsAg levels as an independent risk factor in HBeAg-negative, treatment-naïve patients, while HBV DNA and ALT levels were better predictors in HBeAg-positive patients [ 125 ]. Although the correlation between qHBsAg and fibrosis stage is still a matter of debate in treatment-naïve patients [ 126 , 127 ], qHBsAg has been found to be a marker of HBV-specific T cell and B cell response. While HBsAg levels were reported to have no impact on the specific immune cell composition, higher HBsAg levels were associated with an exhausted phenotype in CD4+ T cells and with dysfunctional B cells [ 128 ].…”