Association of core promoter mutations of hepatitis B virus and viral load is different in HBeAg(+) and HBeAg(-) patients

Table 3 Comparison of patients with hepatitis B e antigen (+), before and after hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion

Characteristics	Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	P-value
	HBeAg(+), HBeAb(-)	HBeAg(-), HBeAb(+)	HBeAg(-), HBeAb(-)	1 vs 2	1 vs 3	2 vs 3
n (%)	71 (39.7)	86 (48.0)	22 (12.3)	-	-	-
Gender (male/female) (% male)	47/24 (66.2)	71/15 (82.6)	11/11 (50.0)	0.018	0.171	0.001
Age (yr, mean ± SD)	40.7 ± 11.5	49.8 ± 11.9	46.9 ± 10.6	< 0.001	0.028	0.296
AFP [ng/mL, median (min-max)]	10.9 (0.2-230 472.0)	17.1 (0.1-3 295 000.0)	40.8 (0.4-514 412.0)	0.016	0.048	0.731
AST [IU/L, median (min-max)]	55.0 (12.0-635.0)	68.0 (7.0-3618.0)	76.5 (9.0-580.0)	0.017	0.536	0.448
ALT [IU/L, median (min-max)]	47.0 (1.0-748.0)	60.0 (9.0-860.0)	43.0 (6.0-154.0)	0.200	0.173	0.023
AST/ALT	1.1 (0.1-30.8)	1.3 (0.1-120.6)	1.7 (0.5-6.0)	0.091	0.007	0.052
Serum HBV DNA (log10 IU/mL, mean ± SD)	6.5 ± 1.8	5.1 ± 1.8	4.5 ± 2.4	< 0.001	< 0.001	0.146
< 20 000 IU/mL, n (%)	6 (8.5)	25 (29.1)	9 (40.9)	0.001	< 0.001	0.286
≥ 20 000 IU/mL, n (%)	65 (91.5)	61 (70.9)	13 (59.1)
Clinical status
CH, n (%)	36 (50.7)	22 (25.6)	6 (27.3)	0.001	0.054	0.871
LC, n (%)	19 (26.8)	40 (46.5)	6 (27.3)	0.011	0.963	0.104
HCC, n (%)	16 (22.5)	24 (27.9)	10 (45.4)	0.442	0.036	0.114
Genotype
B, n (%)	50 (70.4)	66 (76.7)	16 (72.7)	0.369	0.835	0.694
C, n (%)	21 (29.6)	20 (23.3)	6 (27.3)

CH: Chronic hepatitis; LC: Liver cirrhosis; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; AFP: α-fetoprotein; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HBeAg: Hepatitis B e antigen; HBeAb: Hepatitis B e antibody.