HBeAg negative serological status and low viral replication levels characterize chronic hepatitis B virus-infected women at reproductive age in Greece: A one-year prospective single center study

摘要

AIM: To evaluate the seroprevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in 13 581 women at reproductive age and the hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)/anti-HBe status as well as serum hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA levels in a subgroup of HBsAg(+) pregnant women at labor in Greece.METHODS: Serological markers were detected using enzyme immunoassays. Serum HBV-DNA was determined by a sensitive quantitative PCR assay. Statistical analysis of data was based on parametric methodology.RESULTS: Overall, 1.156% of women were HBsAg(+)and the majority of them (71.3%) were Albanian. The prevalence of HBsAg was 5.1% in Albanian women, 4.2%in Asian women and 1.14% in women from Eastem European countries. The prevalence of HBsAg in African (0.36%) and Greek women (0.29%) was very low. Only 4.45% of HBsAg (+) women were also HBeAg(+) whereas the vast majority of them were HBeAg(-)/anti-HBe(+). Undetectable levels of viremia (＜200 copies/mL) were observed in 32.26% of pregnant women at labor and 29.03% exhibited extremely low levels of viral replication (＜400 copies/mL). Only two pregnant women exhibited extremely high serum HBVDNA levels (＞10 000 000 copies/mL), whereas 32.26%exhibited HBV-DNA levels between 1 500 and 40 000copies/mL.CONCLUSION: The overall prevalence of HBsAg is relatively low among women at reproductive age in Greece but is higher enough among specific populations. The HBeAg(-)/anti-HBe(+) serological status and the extremely low or even undetectable viral replicative status in the majority of HBsAg(+) women of our study population, suggest that only a small proportion of HBsAg(+) women in Greece exhibit a high risk for vertical transmission of the infection.