Epidemiology of hepatitis B e antigen and antibody in mentally retarded HBsAg carriers.

Screening for HBeAg and anti-HBe was performed on 133 carriers of HBsAg in an institution for the mentally retarded. By radioimmunoassay, the prevalences of HBeAg and anti-HBe were determined to be 16 and 78%, respectively. HBeAg prevalence was significantly different in the following pairs of carriers: 70% in blacks, 10% in whites, and 35% in carriers with Down's syndrome, 8% in carriers without Down's syndrome. Mean age of HBeAg-positive carriers (25.7 years) was lower than HBeAg-negative carriers (29.6 years, p less than 0.05). SGPT levels were abnormal in 66% of HBeAg-positive and 25% of HBeAg-negative carriers (p less than 0.01). This suggests an association between HBeAg positivity and functional liver impairment.