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Hepatitis Be Surface Antigen and Antibody General Clinical Tests

Test Name
Method		 Hepatitis Be Antigen and Antibody, (HBeAg; Anti-HBe, HBeAb)
Specimen
Requirements		 Serum
Stable for 7 d at RT and indefinitely at 4° C or - 20°C.
Ref. Range
Conventional
International Recommended Units		 Negative
Chemical Interfaces
In Vivo Effects		 None Found

Diagnostic Information HBeAg and anti-HBe are ordered together and should only be studied in patients who are chronicially HBsAg postive. There is no rationale for ordering these studies in patients with acute hepatitis. HBeAg is related to Hepatitis B core protein but has different antigenicity. The HBe gene includes the HBc gene along with an upstream "preC" region that generates a signal peptide causing carboxy-terminal truncation of the core protein. The resulting HBeAg is not incorporated into virus buy may function to induce host immune tolerance. In general, active Hepatitis B viral replication is associated with infective serum that is HBeAg postive and anti-HBe negative. Upon conversion to a nonreplicative state, anti-HBe appears in the serum and HBeAg disappears.

The main utility of testing for HBeAg and anti-HBe is to assess response of the Hepatitis B infection to therapy such as interferon-a.
Remarks Presence of HBeAg implies the infective Hepatitis B virus is present in the serum. However, its absence upon conversion to anti-HBe does not rule out infectivity. Measurement of HBV-DNA directly is now recommended.

References:
Clinical Guide to Laboratory Tests, third edition.

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