Hi @Olacable,
Thanks for sending your test over. The hepatitis B test results are showing that you do not have viral replication going on (HBeAb positive), HBsAb negative means you do not have antibody or protection against hepatitis B virus. HBcIgM negative results indicates that there is no evidence of recent infection. There is no results for HBsAg? You do have a viral load of 280. It’s hard to say what is going on without the surface antigen(HBsAg) test which will indicate whether you have the infection or you don’t. Having a viral load of 280 which is low makes me lean more towards you possibly having HBsAg positive. But only the test can confirm this. What did your provider say to you?
Thanks, Bansah1
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Thanks, I really appreciate
I want to get my liver Funtion Test and CT scan done before meeting my doctor
Dear all, I hope I am posting correctly, I am new in the forum. First of all thank you very much for creating and managing this forum, I am finding so many helpful information and it is such an encouraging community!
My question concern the lab result of my mother, she made the tests after his brother got tested positive with chronic hepatitis b and liver damage:
HBsAg negative
HBc Ab tot: positive
HBs Ab: 21
HBe negative
HBe Ab: positive
Anti HBc IgM negative
If I got it correctly it means that she was exposed to the virus but she could get read of it/ it is not replicating and she has some immunity. Is that correct? What confuses me are the HBe and anti-HBe results: does it mean that she might still have the virus?
Should she follow up on those results? Should my brothers and I also get tested?
Thank you very much for your help
Hi @Claudi,
Welcome to the community. Based on the results you shared, your mother does not have hepatitis B currently (HBsAg negative). She might have been exposed in the past but she has antibodies to protect her. Her HBsAb of 21 is considered high and protective.
If you and your brothers are not vaccinated already, then I will encourage that you all get tested and vaccinated.
I hope this helps. Best, Bansah1
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Dear @Bansah1 thank you so much for your prompt and kind reply, it relieves me greatly. My brother and I were vaccinated, but not as babies, so it is probably better to get checked as you suggested.
Do you or anyone else in the community can commento on the HBe/HBeAb results? Are they useful as diagnostic/prognostic only if HBsAg is positive? What does it mean HBe negative but HBeAb positive?
Thank you very much again for your help and patience. Claudi
Hi @Claudi,
HBeAb positive means there is no viral replication occurring. My guess is HBeAg is negative (HBe negative). Which will mean there is low to no virus in the blood. Since she is HBsAg negative and has antibodies, my take will be that she has no virus in her blood. Anti HBc IgM negative means she does not have an acute infection. These are all good. There are 3 test mostly used in diagnosis: HBsAg, HBsAb, and HBcAb. The first if positive indicates that the person is infected but hers is negative. HBsAb if positive indicates immunity or protection, hers was measured to be at 21 which is fantastic and shows she is protected. HBcAb positive indicates a past or current infection. Hers being positive, and based on HBsAG and HBsAb results strongly indicates a past exposure. If she is in doubt, then she can do a HBV DNA/Viral load test. This test measure how much viral particles are in one’s blood at a giving time.
If you or mom have any further questions, try having a conversation with her provider to get answers specific to her condition. Best, Bansah1.
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Thank you very very much again @Bansah1, now everything is clear! Best regards Claudi
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You are welcome, and I am glad to help. Keep us posted when you and your siblings get your test done. Thanks, Bansah1.
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Hi @Claudi,
Just to clarify a bit, when clearing a HBV infection, the body’s immune system is activated and a part of that activation is the conversion from HBeAg-positve to anti-HBe Ab-positive. People are expected to be anti-HBe Ab-positive when clearing an infection as your mother’s results indicate.
Cheers,
Thomas
Dear @ThomasTu ,
Thank you very much for your reply, this helps me a lot. I was confused because I found tables stating different outcomes but the same indication for the anti-HBe Ab, but your explanation clears my doubt. Thanks again
Cheers
Claudia
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Hello @ThomasTu
Hope you are doing well. I recently got my checkup done after 6 months.
My results till now were
Nov 2022- HBV dna 16500iu ALT 21
Feb 2023- HBV Dna 5052iu ALT 19
May 2023- HBV Dna 3750iu ALT 21
Dec 2023- HBV dna 320iu ALT 48, AST 38
DNA reduction from 3750 to 320 good or not statistically significant?
I was also diagnosed with mild fatty liver Grade 1. I need some guidance on some questions
Can fatty liver grade 1 be reversed? Also is my ALT and AST up because of fatty liver?
Please advise
@ThomasTu @john.tavis @availlant
Taken as a whole, the consistent reduction in viral load with each test from november last year is a good sign.
Over time, mild fatty liver can be reversible with changes in diet and lifestyle choices. Fatty liver can cause increased ALT and ASTs, yes.
Thomas
PROBLEMS
Chronic hepatitis B, eAg negative
- Fibroscan 2022 LSM 5.5kPa, CAP 163
CURRENT MEDICATIONS
None
- No FH HCC
Phase 3 HBV
Elevated ferritin
HFE test excludes hereditary haemochromatosis
ALLERGIES: NONE RECORDED
RESULTS: ALB: 46; ALP: 59; AST: 30; BIL: 6; CAL: 2.54; CCA: 2.42; 07/06/22–CHOL: 5.0; 29/09/23-CRE: 117; 17/03/23–FER: 405; 29/09/23–GGT: 38; HB: 162; PHOS:0.90; POT: 4.2; NA: 138; PLT: 221; URE: 4.3; WBC: 5.29; NEUT: 2.03; AFP: 3;
His ALT and ALT are both 30, GGT
38 IU/L. Alpha-fetoprotein 3 KU/L.
Iron studies were requested following his last review, results as follows:
The total iron binding capacity was 52
Transferrin saturation was 23
–
Iron was slightly low at 12.2 umol/L.
His hepatitis B viral load today was low at 80.9 IU/mL, surface antigen quantification of 32858.90 iU/ml
Dear @Chukwu
These results describe a case of inactive HBV (also referred to as partial cure). This is diagnosed by HBV DNA < 2000 IU/mL with normal ALT in the absence of therapy. These patients are usually also HBeAg negative.
Liver function tests (fibroscan, BIL, ALB, AFP and PLAT) are all normal (consistent with partial cure).
Although HBV infection with liver disease can be associated with elevated ferritin levels, no liver disease is apparent a the current time. Elevated ferritin could be residual effect following recent establishment of partial cure and resolution of liver disease but this is unlikely as serum ferritin has a half life of 12 hours in the blood. It is more likely unrelated to HBV infection. This should be discussed with the physician in charge.
Thank you so much. What do you mean by partial cure. Does it mean that the hbv is in active and can go away
Hi @Chukwu
Functional cure means in the absence of antiviral therapy, you have no detectable evidence of viral activity in your liver (HBV and HBsAg are not detectable) and your liver function (ALT) is normal. In this case, latent viral genetic material still remains in your liver. In this case, immune function has recovered so that people with functional cure never reactivate their infection and they have a low risk of developing liver cancer. HBV reactivation can happen even from functional cure but this is very rare and only happens when individuals become severely immunosuppressed (i.e. when taking immunosuppressive medication).
Partial cure also means immune control but only partial (hence the term “partial cure”). Here your immune system controls most but not all of the infection in your liver. So HBV DNA is very low and liver function is normal in the absence of therapy. In these patients HBsAg remains detectable; most likely because of a special form of viral genetic material called integrated HBV DNA. This form cannot make virus but can still produce HBsAg. Because of this, reactivation from this “inactive” state is more likely but still not so common. Patients with partial cure do not frequently transition to functional cure but it can happen. The risk of liver cancer with partial cure is also lower but not as good as with functional cure.
Hope this helps.
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Thank you. Now I understand what you mean
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I am a little bit concerned about my HBSAG quantitative increased by 220… a yr ago, it was 1442 and this month results showed 1661. … I was expecting this number to go down slightly since I am taking NUC almost a yr!! What’s your thoughts
Thank you and all of you happy new yr!!
Nas