Relationship between serum HBsAg level HBV DNA level and peripheral immune cells in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection

摘要

BackgroundThe chronicity of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is attributed to inappropriate functioning of cell-mediated immunity. Besides the importance of measuring serum HBV DNA and HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) as markers of viral replication and exposure, respectively, studies regarding their influence on immune cell status in chronic HBV infection are still scarce. Because such studies of chronic HBV patients have not been reported for India, we attempted to evaluate the relationship between serum concentrations of HBsAg, HBV DNA, and percentage of immune cells in peripheral blood of Indian subjects with chronic HBV infection.