Hepatitis B virus markers in Chinese twins

Area of Science:

• Virology
• Genetics
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a significant global health concern.
• Understanding genetic influences on HBV infection markers is crucial for disease management and prevention.
• Twin studies provide a powerful model for dissecting genetic and environmental contributions to disease.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the distribution of various hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection markers.
• To compare the concordance of HBV infection markers between monozygotic (MZ) twins, dizygotic (DZ) twins, and singleton controls.
• To explore the genetic influence on the response to HBV infection.

Main Methods:

• Recruitment of Chinese same-sex twins and age-sex-matched singleton controls.
• Assay for multiple HBV markers: HBsAg, anti-HBc, anti-HBs, HBeAg, and Anti-HBe.
• Pair-wise concordance analysis of HBV markers in MZ twins, DZ twins, and controls.

Main Results:

• Over 50% of participants across all groups (MZ twins, DZ twins, controls) were infected with HBV.
• HBsAg carrier rates were 21.45% in MZ twins, 14.22% in DZ twins, and 20.80% in controls.
• Significant differences in concordance of carrier status were observed between MZ twins and controls, and between MZ and DZ twins, but not between DZ twins and controls.

Conclusions:

• The genetic influence on the response to specific hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection markers is not well-defined.
• Further research is necessary to fully elucidate the genetic components underlying HBV infection marker patterns.
• Twin study designs are valuable for investigating genetic contributions to infectious disease outcomes.