A predictive value of quantitative HBsAg for serum HBV DNA level among HBeAg-positive pregnant women.

Abstract Background The high maternal HBV DNA level is the most important factor contributing to HBV perinatal transmission. This study is to explore whether HBsAg can be used as a surrogate marker of serum HBV DNA for HBsAg-positive pregnant women. Methods A total of 975 HBsAg-positive pregnant women and their infants were enrolled in this study. All infants received three doses of a yeast-derived recombinant Hepatitis B vaccine at 0, 1 and 6 months. They were also given Hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) at birth. HBsAg and HBeAg were determined using Abbott Architect assays while serum HBV DNA level was detected by the Abbott Real Time HBV DNA assay. Results Of the 975 subjects, 367 (37.6%) were HBeAg-positive and 608 (62.4%) were HBeAg-negative. Among the HBeAg-positive group, the samples with HBV DNA levels of ≥7.0 log IU/mL were 76.6% (281/367), and it was only 0.7% (4/608) for the HBeAg-negative group. HBV DNA level was positively correlated with HBsAg in HBeAg-positive group ( r  = 0.786, p r  = 0.022, p  = 0.593). Among HBeAg-positive group, the area under the receiver–operator curve (ROC) of HBsAg titer for high HBV DNA level (≥7.0 log IU/mL) was 0.961 (95% CI, 0.940–0.983, p Conclusion Serum HBsAg titer may be used as a surrogate marker of serum HBV DNA for HBeAg-positive pregnant women.