ABSTRACT
<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>To study oxidative stress in patients with chronic hepatitis B.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Malondialdehyde (MDA), total anti-oxidative ability and ascorbic acid were measured as markers of oxidative stress in 30 patients with chronic hepatitis B, besides HBV DNA and ALT.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>MDA was significantly higher in patients with hepatitis B than the controls (P less than 0.05). Ascorbic acid was significantly higher in patients with normal ALT than the controls (P less than 0.01). MDA was significantly higher in patients with increased ALT than the controls and in patients with normal ALT. MDA was significantly positively correlated with ALT (r=0.61), and ascorbic acid was significantly negatively correlated with ALT (r=-0.64) in patients with hepatitis B. No significant relationship was found between HBV DNA and other indices of oxidative stress. No significant difference in total anti-oxidative ability was found among all groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>There was a disturbance between oxidative stress and anti-oxidative ability in patients with chronic hepatitis B. In patients with increased ALT, oxidative stress became high. In patients with normal ALT, oxidative stress level was low. The indices of oxidative stress should be detected in patients with hepatitis B, in addition to HBV markers.</p>