Relationship between HBcAg in serum and liver and HBV replication in patients with HBsAg‐positive chronic liver disease
- 1 October 1985
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Medical Virology
- Vol. 17 (2), 145-152
- https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.1890170207
Abstract
The expression of hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) in serum and in hepatocytes was evaluated in relation to HBV replication. Fifty chronic HBsAg carriers with histological evidence of liver disease were studied, including 24 HBeAg-positive patients, 2 HBeAg/anti-HBe-negative patients, and 24 anti-HBe-positive cases, two of them with evidence of delta agent infection. Serum HBV-DNA was evaluated in all patients and related to HBcAg examined at the same time in frozen liver biopsies by immunofluorescence and to HBcAg detected in the corresponding serum by a recently developed radioimmunoassay. HBV-DNA was present in serum in 20 (83%) HBeAg-positive patients, all positive for serum HBcAg, whereas liver core antigen was detected in 14 (73%) of 19 cases. Among HBeAg-negative patients, 50% showed the presence of circulating DNA viral sequences, and HBcAg was identified in five of 26 (19%) cases in serum and in six of 24 (25%) in the liver respectively. In 15 patients, liver fragments permitted examination in parallel by immunofluorescence for HBcAg and molecular hybridization for viral DNA in liver cells. A DNA pattern characteristic of viral replication was found in cases with evidence of active virion production, independently from HBeAg and anti-HBe, and in these patients HBcAg was present both in serum and in hepatocytes. In two cases with free HBV-DNA, without evidence of replicative activity, core antigen was not detected in the liver, but in one patient HBcAg was found in the serum. A similar finding was also noted in another patient, in whom the hybridization pattern was consistent with integration of viral genome into high-molecular-weight cellular DNA. Whether serum HBcAg detected in these patients without HBV-DNA in serum reflects the presence of defective viral particles or of core antigen released as a viral protein remains to be determined.Keywords
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- Hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV‐DNA) in anti‐HBe positive seraLiver International, 1984
- Analysis of the molecular state of HBV-DNA in the liver and serum of patients with chronic hepatitis or primary liver cell carcinoma and the effect of therapy with adenine arabinoside.Gut, 1984
- Polyalbumin Receptors: Their Role in the Attachment of Hepatitis B Virus to HepatocytesSeminars in Liver Disease, 1984
- Analysis of Liver Disease, Nuclear HBcAg, Viral Replication, and Hepatitis B Virus DNA in Liver and Serum of HBcAg Vs. Anti-HBe Positive Carriers of Hepatitis B VirusHepatology, 1983
- Detection of Hepatitis B Virus DNA in Serum by a Simple Spot Hybridization Technique: Comparison with Results for Other Viral MarkersHepatology, 1983
- Asymmetric replication of duck hepatitis B virus DNA in liver cells: Free minus-strand DNA.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1982
- The detection of hbv‐dna in serum by molecular hybridisation: A more sensitive method for the detection of complete hbv particlesJournal of Medical Virology, 1982
- DETECTION OF HEPATITIS B VIRUS DNA IN LIVER AND SERUM: A DIRECT APPRAISAL OF THE CHRONIC CARRIER STATEThe Lancet, 1981
- Hepatitis B virus DNA in the sera of HBsAg carriers: A marker of active hepatitis B virus replication in the liverHepatology, 1981
- Identification of integrated hepatitis B virus DNA sequences in human hepatocellular carcinomasHepatology, 1981