P38: The effect of ‘re‐cycling’ genome DNA of HBV for the intracellular replication dynamics

Abstract

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The monitoring of cccDNA levels can provide a direct indication of HBV activity in the liver of HBV infected patients. The aim of this study was to quantify the cccDNA levels in sera and intrahepatic levels of HBV DNA and cccDNA in liver biopsies of treatment na€ive patients with chronic hepatitis B. METHOD: Eighty one chronic HBV treatment na€ive patients were enrolled from January 2009 to June 2011. The levels of intrahepatic HBV DNA and cccDNA were quantified using real time PCR method. SUMMARY OF RESULTS: The mean age of recruited patients was 34 11.5 years. A total of 54 patients (66.7%) were HBeAg negative. Liver biopsy was done in 23 patients (21 HBeAg negative and 2 HBeAg positive). The levels of total intrahepatic HBV DNA ranged from 0.09 to 1508.92 copies/cell. The median intrahepatic HBV cccDNA were 0.31 copies/cell (range 0.14–0.49 copies/cell) and 0.20 copies/cell (range 0.01–1.63 copies/cell) in HBeAg positive and HBeAg negative cases, respectively. The rate of serum HBV cccDNA detection was 85.2% and 48.1% in HBeAg positive and negative patients, respectively. The median level of serum HBV cccDNA was 46,000 copies/ mL in HBeAg positive cases, while it was 26,350 copies/ mL in HBeAg negative disease. The levels of intrahepatic HBV total DNA had a positive correlation with intrahepatic HBV cccDNA (r = 0.533, p = 0.009). A positive correlation was observed between serum cccDNA levels and serum HBV DNA levels (r = 0.871, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: It was concluded that serum HBV DNA and serum cccDNA levels were significantly higher in HBeAg positive patients than HBeAg negative patients.