Abstract: Objective To explore the changes in HBsAg titer and HBV DNA load and their correlation in patients with chronic
hepatitis B (CHB) and HBV-related liver cirrhosis (HBV-LC). Methods Forty-six patients with mild to moderate CHB
(CHB-LM), 24 patients with severe CHB (CHB-S), and 28 patients with HBV-LC at admission, and 51 patients with HBV-LC at
4.08 ± 3.06 months during antiviral treatment were tested for serum HBsAg titer and HBV DNA load using Abbott
chemiluminescence and fluorescence quantitative PCR, respectively. Results The serum HBsAg titer and HBV DNA load
gradually decreased with increased disease severity (from CHB-LM, CHB-S to HBV-LC; χ2=12.537 and 8.381, respectively, P<
0.05). HBsAg titer and HBV DNA load were significantly higher in CHB-LM and CHB-S groups than in HBV-LC group (P<
0.05), but comparable between CHB-LM and CHB-S groups (Z=-0.649 and 0.032, respectively, P>0.05). Among HBeAg-positive
patients, HBsAg titer and HBV DNA load tended to decrease with increased disease severity (from CHB-LM, CHB-S to
HBV-LC; χ2=6.146, P=0.046 and χ2=1.017, P>0.05; respectively), and CHB-LM group had significantly higher HBsAg titer than
HBV-LC group (Z=-2.247, P=0.025). Among the HBeAg-negative patients, serum HBsAg and HBV DNA load gradually
declined with the disease severity (χ2=8.660 and 13.581, respectively, P<0.05), and were obviously higher in CHB-LM and
CHB-S groups than in HBV-LC group (P<0.05). Positive correlations were found between serum HBsAg and HBV DNA levels
in CHB-LM (r=0.389, P=0.009) and HBV-LC groups (r=0.431, P=0.022), but not in CHB-S group (r=0.348, P=0.104). After antiviral
therapy, the serum HBsAg titer was slightly decreased (Z=-1.050, P=0.294) while HBV DNA load markedly reduced (Z=-5.415,
P<0.001), showing no correlation between them (r=0.241, P=0.111) or between the measurements before and after treatment (r=
0.257, P=0.085). Conclusion Serum HBsAg titer and HBV DNA load decreases progressively from CHB-LM to CHB-S and HBV-LC in both HBeAgpositive
and -negative patients. The serum HBsAg titer is positively correlated with HBV DNA load, but their levels are not consistently parallel.