Hepatitis B Core Antibody Level: A Surrogate Marker for Host Antiviral Immunity in Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infections
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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

Dried Blood Spots - Preparing and Processing for Use in Immunoassays and in Molecular Techniques
Published on: March 13, 2015
Yang Shi1,2, Zihan Wang1,2, Shengxiang Ge1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Vaccine Development, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, School of Public Health, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China.
Abstract:
The hepatitis B virus core protein (HBcAg) is a highly immunogenic particulate antigen. Nearly all patients with persistent or resolved hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection show seropositivity for hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc), which appears in the early stage of infection and is mostly present for life. Traditionally, the anti-HBc is regarded as an evidential serological marker of HBV infections. In the last ten years, several studies revealed the predictive value of quantitative anti-HBc (qAnti-HBc) level in the treatment response and clinical outcome of chronic HBV infections, implying new insights into this classic marker. Overall, qAnti-HBc should be regarded as an indicator of the host's immune response specific to HBV, which correlates with HBV-related hepatitis activity and liver pathology. This review summarized the latest understanding of the clinical values of qAnti-HBc for differentiating the CHB phase, predicting treatment response, and providing disease prognosis. Moreover, we also discussed the possible mechanism of qAnti-HBc regulation during different courses of HBV infection.
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