High frequency of HBeAg-minus chronic HBsAg-positive liver disease in Egypt

The aim of this study was to establish if a correlation exists between the HBe antigen/anti-HBe-antibody profile (HBeAg/anti-HBe) and the hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV-DNA) among patients in Egypt with chronic liver disease induced by the hepatitis B virus. The results revealed that 44 out of 100 patients with chronic HBsAg-positive liver disease were also HBV-DNA-positive. Of these 44 cases, 5 (11.3%) were HBeAg-positive, 18 (41.0%) anti-HBe-positive and 21 (47.7%) negative for both markers. This finding showed that HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B represents more than 80% of chronic hepatitis B cases in Egypt, suggesting that the HBeAg-minus variant of the hepatitis B virus characterizes the major infective agent. © 1995.