A Correlation Study of Liver Biopsy Appearances, Serum HBV DNA and HBsAg Quantification Levels of Nigerian Patients with Chronic Liver Disease

Abstract

Background: Infection with the hepatitis B virus is highly endemic in much of sub-Saharan Africa where it remains an important cause of chronic ill-health. Quantitative assay of HBV DNA and HBsAg are emerging as useful tools in the management of chronic HBV infection. However, it is not yet clear how well each of these might accurately correlate with the extent of liver damage during the course of the disease. Nevertheless, liver biopsy, albeit an invasive test, affords a superior direct assessment of all stages of the disease. Objective: Thus, we set out to determine how well-correlated serum levels of HBV-DNA and/or HBsAg might be with each other and with the liver biopsy appearances. Methodology: This study was prospective and we enrolled, 83 new treatment-naïve patients, who met the study criteria. Each patient had liver biopsy assessments of the grade of necroinflammation (A) and stage of fibrosis (F), according to the METAVIR Scoring System. In addition, quantitative HBsAg serum levels by immunoassay and HBV DNA by real-time quantitative PCR protocols were made. The Spearman’s and Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests were employed to determine the correlations between these assays separately and with the respective histological grades and stages of liver biopsy. (p=0.05) Results: The greatest number of the patients were within the 21-40 year- age group. Using the Spearman rho’s statistical correlation test, we found a positive but weak correlation between the serum HBsAg and HBVDNA levels (p=0.075, r=0.198). The Kruskal-Wallis analysis revealed statistically significant correlation between HBV-DNA and the grade of necroinflammation but not with the stage of fibrosis. Conclusions: We found that the serum HBV DNA levels had the only statistically significant correlation with the liver histological disease. This relationship needs to be further examined in larger studies in the future.