Relationship of Hepatitis B virus DNA and Alanine Aminotransferase Levels in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients with Negative e Antigen

OBJECTIVE To study the relationship of hepatitis B virus DNA(HBV-DNA)and alanine aminotransferase(ALT)levels in chronic hepatitis B patients with negative e antigen.METHODS HBV-DNA and ALT levels of 138 chronic hepatitis B patients with negative e antigen and 33 healthy people were detected by real time-PCR and biochemical analytical method respectively.According to the HBV-DNA copy number,the samples were divided into high-level(105IU/ml),medium-level(103-105IU/ml),low-level(103IU/ml)HBV-DNA groups and below limit of detection group,then the ALT levels were analyzed by SPSS software between each group and the normal control group.RESULTS There was no significant difference of ALT level between HBV-DNA below detection limit group and the normal control group(P0.05).However,it had significant difference between the high-level,medium-level or low-level HBV-DNA group and normal control group,respectively(P0.01);HBV-DNA and ALT level had good correlation(r=0.596,P0.001)in chronic hepatitis B patients with negative e antigen.CONCLUSIONS The quantity of HBV-DNA plays an important role on the development and prognosis of chronic hepatitis B disease with negative e antigen.