The Utility of M30 and M65 Antigen Concentration Levels for Predicting Degree of Hepatic Injury in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B Infection

Background and aims: We aimed to determine the utility of M30 and M65 antigen concentration levels for predicting hepatic injury in chronic hepatitis B disease. Materials and Methods: This study compared concentration levels of M30 and M65 antigens between patients with hepatitis B e-antigen negative chronic hepatitis B and healthy subjects. Furthermore, the correlations between either M30 or M65 antigen levels and aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, HBV-DNA, histological activity index and fibrosis were evaluated in the patient group. Results: A total of 81 subjects were included in the study; 50 patients with HBeAg negative chronic hepatitis B and 31 healthy subjects. The concentration of the M30 antigen was significantly higher in the chronic hepatitis B patient group than in the healthy subject group (p <0.05). However, there was no difference in M65 antigen concentration values between the two groups (p >0.05). Correlation analysis performed in the patient group revealed a significant correlation between M30 antigen concentration levels and aspartate aminotransferase levels (r: 0.207, p <0.05), and between M65 antigen concentration levels and HBV-DNA levels (r: 0.204, p <0.05). There was no significant correlation observed between M30 or M65 antigen concentration levels and both the histological activity index and fibrosis. Discussion: The presence of high M30 antigen levels in HBeAg negative chronic hepatitis B patients may suggest that M30 antigen concentration might be beneficial in disease monitoring and evaluation of treatment efficacy. This observation must be tested further in more comprehensive studies. However, the absence of a significant correlation between the concentration levels of either antigen or both the histological activity index and fibrosis suggests that pathological examination is unique in detecting hepatic injury