OBJECTIVETo investigate the discrepancy of HBsAg titre and correlation of HBV DNA levels among patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), HBV-related liver cirrhosis (LC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODSHBsAg titre and HBV DNA in serum samples were measured among 47 CHB, 72 LC and 54 HCC cases using Abbott chemiluminescence and fluorescence quantitative PCR, respectively. Statistical analyses among multiple groups, between two groups and about the correlation were performed using Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman test, respectively.

RESULTSThe median HBsAg titre level in serum samples decreased from 2361.10 IU/ml in CHB cohort to 1001.64 IU/ml in LC cohort and 594.35 IU/ml in HCC cohort, suggesting a statistically significant difference (x2 = 24.394, P less than 0.05). Moreover, HBsAg titre in CHB group was significantly higher than that in LC group ( Z = -3.754, P less than 0.05). CHB patients had significantly higher HBsAg titre than HCC cases ( Z = -4.630, P less than 0.05). However, there was no statistically significant difference in HBsAg titre between LC and HCC group. Among HBeAg positive patients, HBsAg titre decreased from 3259.83 IU/ml in CHB group to 1077.30 IU/ml in LC group and 789.72 IU/ml in HCC group, indicating a significant difference (x2 = 15.643, P less than 0.01). Among HBeAg negative patients, HBsAg titre declined from 1669.00 IU/ml in CHB group to 1001.64 IU/ml in LC group and 582.05 IU/ml in HCC group, suggesting of a significant difference (x2 = 6.423, P less than 0.05). Positive correlation between HBsAg titre and HBV DNA was found in CHB ( r = 0.297, P less than 0.05), LC (r = 0.346, P less than 0.05) and HCC (r = 0.452, P less than 0.05), respectively.

CONCLUSIONHBsAg titre level in serum decreased progressively from CHB to LC and HCC group. There were positive correlations between HBsAg titre and HBV DNA level in CHB, LC and HCC.