Quantitative Anti-HBc in Liver Pathological States in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection

Background. Changes of hepatitis B core antigen antibody (anti-HBc) in liver pathological involvement in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection have not been investigated in detail. This study aimed to explore evolving patterns of anti-HBc following liver pathological states and to investigate validities of anti-HBc for predicting liver pathological states. Methods. 254 HBeAg-positive and 237 HBeAg-negative patients with chronic HBV infection were enrolled. Liver pathological diagnoses referred to Scheuer standard, and anti-HBc was measured using chemiluminescence microparticle immunoassay. Results. Anti-HBc was significantly positively correlated with pathological grades and stages in both HBeAg-positive (rs = 0.312, P<0.0001, and rs = 0.268, P<0.0001) and HBeAg-negative (rs = 0.270, P<0.0001, and rs = 0.147, P=0.0237) patients. The medians of anti-HBc in pathological grades of G1, G2, and G3 and stages of S1, S2, S3, and S4 in HBeAg-positive patients were all significantly lower than those in HBeAg-negative patients (all P