ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIM: Progression of hepatitis B virus infection (HBV) might be affected by host genetic factors. The present study was undertaken to study the role of glutathione S-transferases (GST)-M1 and T1 gene polymorphisms in different stages of HBV infection: HBV inactive carrier, chronic hepatitis B and cirrhosis, and cryptogenic cirrhosis. METHODS: The study population comprised of 170 subjects; 120 cases (HBV inactive carrier, n = 30; HBV related chronic hepatitis, n = 30; HBV related cirrhosis, n = 30; cryptogenic cirrhosis, n = 30) and 50 unrelated healthy adults without liver disease as controls. Analysis of GSTM1 and GSTT1 gene polymorphisms was done by multiplex polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The GSTM1 null genotype was seen more commonly in hepatitis B cirrhosis (n = 21; 70%), chronic hepatitis B (n = 19; 63.33%) and cryptogenic cirrhosis (n = 17; 56.67%) as compared with inactive carrier (n = 9; 30%) and controls (n = 13; 26%). The GSTT1 null genotype was seen less frequently in all the groups, the observed frequencies were controls (n = 7; 14%), inactive carrier (n = 5; 16.67%), chronic hepatitis B (n = 8; 26.67%) and hepatitis B cirrhosis (n = 7; 23.33%). The difference of GSTM1 null genotype frequencies was statistically significant for hepatitis B cirrhosis vs. controls (P = 0.0002), chronic hepatitis B vs. controls (P = 0.002) and cryptogenic cirrhosis vs. controls (P = 0.01). The GSTT1 null genotype was not found to vary significantly between the groups. CONCLUSION: The patients with GSTM1 null genotype are at risk of progression of liver disease as the frequency of GSTM1 null genotype was found to be significantly higher in chronic hepatitis B, hepatitis B cirrhosis and cryptogenic cirrhosis as compared with controls.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Quantification of serum hepatitis B antigen (HBsAg) is an important test that marks active infection with hepatitis B and helps in the prediction of the clinical outcome and management of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Correlation with HBV DNA quantitative levels may help in developing strategies for antiviral treatment. This study is aimed to evaluate HBsAg titres in various phase of HBV infection in HBsAg positive patients, and its correlation with HBV DNA viral load levels. METHODS: 976 HBV related patients were analysed in this retrospective cross-sectional study. Patients were categorised on the basis of the phase of HBV infection: immune tolerant phase (IT, n = 123), immune clearance phase (IC, n = 192), low-replicative phase (LR, n = 476), and HBeAg-negative hepatitis (ENH, n = 185). HBsAg titres were quantified and correlated with HBV-DNA levels and clinical parameters. RESULTS: Median HBsAg titres were different between each phases of HBV infection (P < 0.001): (4.62 log10 IU/ml), IC (3.88 log10 IU/ml), LR (2.76 log10 IU/ml) and ENH (2.94 log10 IU/ml). HBsAg and HBV DNA levels showed significant correlation in the whole group (r = 0.694, P < 0.001), and this was also observed in different phases of HBV infection. Strong correlation in IT phase (r = 0.603, P < 0.001) and IC phase (r = 0.523, P < 0.001), moderate in LR phase (r = 0.362, P < 0.001) and weak in ENH (r = 0.110, P = 0.04). No correlation was observed between serum HBsAg levels and biochemical parameters. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated significant difference in the median baseline values of serum HBsAg titres in different phases of HBV infection and provides additional information in understanding the natural history of HBV-infection.
