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Author Spotlight: Advancements and Challenges in Hepatitis B Virus Detection
Published on: December 15, 2023
Isolated hepatitis B core antibody positive among vaccinated cohort in Malaysia
Shuaibu Abdullahi Hudu, Yasmin A Malik, Mohd Taib Niazlin
1Prof. Zamberi Sekawi, Medical Microbiology and Parasitology,, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences,, Universiti Putra Malaysia,, B-7-1, Kyvilla Apartment,, Jalan 5/5 Serdang Perdana, Selangor 43300, Malaysia, T: 60166225698, zamberi@upm.edu.my.
Background And Objectives:
Hepatitis B core antibodies (anti-HBc) are detected in almost every patient with previous exposure to hepatitis B virus (HBV). However, with this marker alone, one cannot understand the activity of the disease; therefore, this study aimed to identify the implication of isolated hepatitis B core antibody and evaluate the effect of hepatitis B vaccine booster in isolated anti-HBc among adults who received the HBV vaccine as infants.
Design And Settings:
A prospective cohort study of vaccinated undergraduate students of University Putra Malaysia.
Patients And Methods:
A total of 408 undergraduate students who received infant hepatitis B vaccination volunteered for this study; 5 mL of venous blood was taken from the volunteers. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and core antibodies were tested using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit according to the manufacturer's instructions (DRG international Inc., USA). Molecular detection of hepatitis B viral DNA was performed using nested polymerase chain reaction.
Results:
The prevalence of isolated anti-HBc among the vaccinated cohort was found to be 5.0%, out of which 80% had a hepatitis B surface antibodies (anti-HBs) titer higher than 10 IU/L, while 20% had less than 10 IU/L anti-HBs titer. All the anti-HBc positivesubjects had detectable hepatitis B viral DNA in their serum. Anamnestic response was found to be 100% among isolated anti-HBc with negative antibody.
Conclusion:
Isolated anti-HBc developed protective levels of anti-HBs after a single dose of recombinant hepatitis B vaccination. HBV DNA was detected in all isolated anti-HBc indicating occult chronic HBV infection with undetectable HBsAg.
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