@ThomasTu That makes sense. Does integrated HBV DNA accumulate over time? So would someone who has had HBV for 50 years have more integrated HBV DNA compared to someone who has had it for 30 years?
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It is likely thereās an increase in integrations as people with hep B get older. Integrations can get more common in the liver by 2 ways: 1) you have more integration events as cells get infected over and over; 2) when the liver replaces itself, cells with integrations can divide and with it make 2 cells with the same integration.
Thomas
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@Nass Congrats! Was that 50% drop in your HBsAg level natural, or were you on some other treatment during those 2 years?
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@et5656 youāre such a hero! Sharing your experience with us is a cure by itself, and, your road to full recovery is getting to its final stages when you get your antibodies. Thank you so much for sharing with us all the details on the promising drug.
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Iāve been off of bepirovirsen for just over 6 months now. I got my test results back from my visit last week, and Iām not sure what to think about this. It seems kind of strange to me that the quantitative test is negative (<0.05), whereas the qualitative test is positive. I guess I feel disappointed that I still donāt have antibodies, which makes me worry that the infection is coming back.
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Dear @et5656,
I hope you get antibodies very soon but this result is, indeed, quite surprising bcoz your HBsAg level was low and the EOT results said that the functional cure rate was higher in those having HBsAg levels below 1000.
Hi,
Yes, this is strange. However, I am not sure what āABā next to your qualitative HBsAg test means then. Normally it means Antibody. There is no āABā for HepBe Antigen just above. I would double check that with the lab.
Good luck!
@Ace Iāve had lab work done from this lab before. AB = abnormal. Basically just a flag that itās outside of the reference range (since the reference range is Negative for that test)
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Sorry to hear about your worries, @et5656.
Your HBsAg levels could potentially be between the limit of detectability (the point at which a test can tell you positive or negative) and the limit of quantification (a higher level that a test can tell you exactly how much).
We do know that even in people with acute hepatitis B and HBsAg negative, HBsAg still gets produced in the liver and the balance between antibody and antigen can be very similar (so that both are negative). Little wobbles in this equilibrium are possible. Best thing would be to keep monitoring to see what will happen.
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Interesting. I guess I thought that the qualitative test sensitivity was the same as the quantitative test. But youāre saying that perhaps the qualitative one is more sensitive?
I hope itās just my body trying to find a new equilibrium, and the surface antigen number doesnāt continue to go up.
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Dear @et5656,
How old are you and when were you diagnosed?
I was around 20 years old
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