Correlations between serum hepatitis B surface antigen and hepatitis B core antibody titers and liver fibrosis in treatment-naïve CHB patients

Background: Previous studies have revealed that quantitative hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) or hepatitis B core antibody (qAnti-HBc) levels can be used as predictors of treatment response in both interferon-α and nucleoside analogue therapies. Few data have been published regarding the relationship between quantitative HBsAg or Anti-HBc levels and liver fibrosis stages in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of treatment-naïve CHB patients. A total of 624 CHB patients were recruited. We assessed the serum HBsAg and qAnti-HBc levels, HBV DNA levels, HBV genotypes, BCP/PC mutations, histological fibrosis staging by Scheuer classification. Results: In HBeAg (+) patients, the S0-1 subjects had significantly higher serum HBsAg and lower qAnti-HBc levels than the S2-4 subjects (both p 0.05). Serum qAnti-HBc levels showed a moderate positive correlation with fibrosis scores (r = 0.383, p