Hepatitis B post-partum e antigen clearance in hepatitis B carrier mothers: Correlation with viral characteristics

• Published in: Journal of gastroenterology and hepatology 2006-03, Vol.21 (3), p.605-609
• Main Authors: Lin, Ho-Hsiung, Wu, Wen-Yih, Kao, Jia-Horng, Chen, Ding-Shin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; carrier mothers; Chi-Square Distribution; DNA, Viral - analysis; Female; Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen; Genotype; HBeAg; HBV-DNA; Hepatitis B - immunology; Hepatitis B e Antigens - analysis; hepatitis B virus; Humans; Medical sciences; Postpartum Period; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - immunology; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious - microbiology; Statistics, Nonparametric; Virus Replication
• ISSN: 0815-9319; 1440-1746
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1746.2006.04198.x

Background:  The purpose of the present paper was to correlate hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype, e antigen titer, HBV‐DNA level and precore/basal core promoter mutations with post‐partum e antigen clearance in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)‐positive carrier mothers. Methods:  A total of 40 consecutive HBeAg‐positive carrier mothers were studied from January 2002 to January 2003. The blood samples were taken at delivery, 3–4 months and at 1 year after delivery, and the follow‐up period was until 1 year after delivery. All sera were assayed for HBeAg, HBV‐DNA level, HBV genotype and precore/basal core promoter mutations. The correlation between HBV characteristics and post‐partum e antigen clearance was analyzed by Mann–Whitney, Pearson χ2 and multiple logistic regression tests. Results:  The mean age of the 40 HBeAg‐positive carrier mothers was 29.9 ± 5.3 years with a mean parity of 1.4 ± 0.7. Five of them (group I) had post‐partum e antigen clearance, which persisted thereafter, whereas the remaining 35 carrier mothers (group II) had persistent positivity of HBeAg during the follow‐up period. The prepartum comparisons of HBV characteristics between groups I and II were comparable in terms of demographics and distributions of HBV genotype and precore/basal core promoter mutations. In contrast, group I carrier mothers had lower HBeAg titer and HBV‐DNA level than group II carrier mothers (1:80 vs 1:4000, P = 0.02, and 3.75 × 105 vs 3 × 108 copies/mL, P = 0.028, respectively). Conclusions:  Post‐partum e antigen clearance in HBeAg‐positive carrier mothers is closely associated with prepartum low HBeAg titer or HBV‐DNA level.