Expression level of serum HBV RNA in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B patients at different periods and its value of measurement / 临床肝胆病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the expression level and potential clinical value of serum HBV RNA in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients at different periods. Methods A total of 61 CHB patients who attended the outpatient and inpatient services of Department of Hepatology, Hangzhou Xixi Hospital, from August 2019 to December 2020 were enrolled, and according to the antiviral therapy for HBeAg-positive CHB patients, they can be divided into group A with untreated HBeAg-positive CHB (HBeAg+ and HBV DNA+) patients, group B with treatment-experienced patients before HBeAg seroconversion (HBeAg+ and HBV DNA-), and group C with treatment-experienced patients after HBeAg seroconversion (HBeAg- and HBV DNA-). Peripheral blood HBV RNA load was measured at different periods, and its correlation with HBsAg and HBV DNA was analyzed. The t -test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between groups, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups; a Pearson or Spearman correlation analysis was used to describe the correlation between two variables. Results The positive rates of HBV RNA in these three groups were 100% (22/22), 88.2% (15/17), and 22.7% (6/22), respectively. In group A, HBV RNA was positively correlated with HBsAg and HBV DNA ( r =0.612 and 0.922, both P < 0.01), while in groups B and C, there was no correlation between HBV RNA and HBsAg. Group B had significantly higher levels of HBV RNA and HBsAg than group C ( Z =-4.44 and -2.41, both P < 0.05). The HBV DNA-positive group had a significantly higher level of HBV RNA than the HBV DNA-negative group ( Z =-6.16, P < 0.01). Conclusion After HBV DNA clearance achieved by antiviral therapy with nucleos(t)ide analogues in CHB patients, serum HBV RNA can still be detected in some of these patients. Since HBV RNA only comes from cccDNA in the liver, it can better reflect viral replication activity in the liver than HBV DNA and thus has a certain clinical value in the management of CHB patients.