ABSTRACT

In this study, it is aimed to investigate the relationship between the HBV DNA positivity and serological markers such as HBsAg, HBeAg and anti-HBe in patients with acute or chronic hepatitis.

Data of 574 patients whose serum specimens were processed in microbiology laboratory between march 2010 and july 2012 were retrospectively analysed.

In the study, HBV DNA was detected in 44.8% of HBsAg-positive, in 67.1% of HBeAg-positive and in 35.9% of anti-HBE-positive patients. HBV DNA was detected in 61.2% of the patients both of whose HBsAg and HBeAg were positive. However, HBV DNA was positive in one of 29 patients (3.4%) who had negativity of both HBsAg and HBeAg. DNA positivity was 6.3% in HBsAg-negative patients and 37.7% in HBeAg-negative ones. In the study, HBeAg was negative in 79.4% of HBV DNA-positive patients; anti-HBeAg was negative in 17.7% of DNA-positive patients. DNA levels were found significantly high in HBeAg-positive patients (p<0.001) as well as DNA levels were significantly high in anti-HBe-negative ones (p<0.001).

In conclusion, serological markers may be insufficient either in diagnosis of HBV infection or in determining the viral replication. In this study, it is observed that evaluating those tests together is useful in laboratory diagnosis.