Correlation Between Results of Semi-Quantitative and Quantitative Tests for Hepatitis B Virus Surface Antigen Among Patients Achieving Viral Suppression with Antiviral Treatment

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a threat to global public health. Serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) has been used in screening for HBV infection. Quantitative HBsAg assays are useful for monitoring the natural history of HBV infection and its response to therapy. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between quantitative (qHBsAg; IU/mL) and semi-quantitative (sqHBsAg; signal-to-cutoff ratio [S/Co]) HBsAg titers in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Methods: We retrospectively included 284 samples with HBV DNA < 20 IU/mL from patients who had simultaneous qHBsAg (using electrochemiluminescence assay) and sqHBsAg tests. Patients were grouped according to their serum HBV-envelope antigen (HBeAg) status (HBeAg-negative, n = 239 and HBeAg-positive, n = 45). The Spearman test was used to analyze the correlation between the quantitative and semi-quantitative assays. Results: There was a significant linear correlation between sqHBsAg and qHBsAg in the HBeAg-negative patients (qHBsAg [IU/mL] = 0.0094 × sqHBsAg [S/Co]1.323; adjusted R2 = 0.8445; p < 0.001). There was a substantial hook effect in the assays from the HBeAg-positive patients, so we performed a stratified analysis according to qHBsAg <1000 IU/mL or ≥1000 IU/mL and found a significant positive linear correlation between sqHBsAg S/Co and qHBsAg (qHBsAg [IU/mL] = 0.072 × sqHBsAg [S/Co]1.331; adjusted R2 = 0.7878; p < 0.001) in HBeAg-positive patients with qHBsAg titers of <1000 IU/mL and a significant negative correlation in HBeAg-positive patients with qHBsAg titers of ≥1000 IU/mL (qHBsAg [IU/mL] = 8.987 × 1014 × sqHBsAg [S/Co]−3.175; adjusted R2 = 0.6350; p < 0.001). Conclusions: There was a highly linear, positive correlation between qHBsAg and sqHBsAg in HBeAg-negative CHB patients. The hook effect led to a negative correlation in HBeAg-positive CHB patients with qHBsAg titers ≥1000 IU/mL.