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Association between hepatitis B virus markers and liver fibrosis staging in patients with chronic hepatitis B
Xiao-Jing Huang1, Xiao Zheng2, Kai Wang2
1Department of Infection, Hangzhou Linping District First People's Hospital, Hangzhou 311100, Zhejiang Province, China. 13306521018@163.com.
Insights
Hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) correlates with liver fibrosis (LF) staging in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. A high HBcAb/low HBV-DNA profile increases fibrosis progression risk.
Area of Science:
- Hepatology
- Virology
- Biomarker Discovery
Background:
- Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) liver fibrosis (LF) assessment requires improved accuracy.
- Current diagnostic methods for LF in CHB patients have limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate associations between LF staging and key hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers: hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb), HBV DNA (HBV-DNA), and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg).
- To evaluate the diagnostic performance of these biomarkers for LF staging in CHB.
Main Methods:
- 120 CHB patients were classified into mild (F0-F1) and moderate-to-severe (F2-F4) LF groups.
- HBcAb, HBV-DNA, and HBsAg levels were measured and correlated with LF staging using Spearman analysis.
- Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and logistic regression analyzed diagnostic performance and fibrosis progression risk.
Main Results:
- Moderate-to-severe LF showed higher HBcAb and lower HBV-DNA and HBsAg levels.
- LF staging positively correlated with HBcAb and inversely with HBV-DNA and HBsAg.
- Combined biomarkers achieved an AUC of 0.851 for LF staging; high HBcAb/low HBV-DNA predicted fibrosis progression.
Conclusions:
- HBcAb, HBV-DNA, and HBsAg are valuable for assessing LF in CHB.
- Combined marker analysis offers superior diagnostic efficacy for LF staging.
- A high HBcAb/low HBV-DNA ratio significantly elevates fibrosis progression risk in CHB.
Background:
Existing assessment systems for chronic hepatitis B (CHB)-associated liver fibrosis (LF) exhibit insufficient accuracy, thereby requiring further improvements.
Aim:
To investigate the association of LF staging with hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb), hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV-DNA), and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in patients with CHB.
Methods:
We selected 120 patients with CHB receiving treatment in Hangzhou Linping District First People's Hospital from January 2020 to June 2024. Participants were allocated into the mild (F0-F1, n = 52) and moderate-to-severe groups (F2-F4, n = 68) following the rigorous LF staging criteria. HBcAb, HBV-DNA, and HBsAg concentrations were measured. Pearson correlations were employed to examine the correlations of HBcAb with HBV-DNA and HBsAg, whereas Spearman correlation analysis was conducted to identify the associations of the three with LF staging. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were further used to analyze the performance of these biomarkers in diagnosing LF stages. Furthermore, binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the association of these three with LF progression in CHB.
Results:
Markedly increased HBcAb and notably decreased HBV-DNA and HBsAg were observed in moderate-to-severe cases vs their mild counterparts. A positive correlation was observed between HBV-DNA and HBsAg, whereas both markers were inversely associated with HBcAb. Moreover, LF staging exhibited a significant positive correlation with HBcAb and an inverse connection with HBV-DNA and HBsAg. The receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed area under the curve values of 0.715, 0.799, and 0.662 for HBcAb, HBV-DNA, and HBsAg in diagnosing LF staging, respectively. Combining these markers improved the area under the curve to 0.851. The final analysis identified HBcAb as promoting fibrosis advancement (odds ratio = 2.765), whereas HBV-DNA demonstrated protective properties (odds ratio = 0.247).
Conclusion:
HBcAb is negatively correlated with HBV-DNA and HBsAg but positively associated with LF staging. All three markers are valuable in assessing LF staging, and their combined use presents the highest diagnostic efficacy. Importantly, a high HBcAb/low HBV-DNA profile markedly increased fibrosis progression risks in CHB-affected individuals.
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