The relationship between the distribution of HBcAg in liver cells and the pathological manifestations of the liver in 429 HBeAg-positive chronic HBV-infected individuals

Fan Nie¹,
Chang-Chun Zeng²,
Guang-Dong Tong³,
Mu-Min Shao⁴,
Xiao-Hua Le⁵,
Xin Deng⁶ and
Da-Qiao Zhou^3,*

Gastroenterology & Hepatology Research 2024;6(3):11

doi: 10.53388/ghr2024011

Published online: September 30, 2024

Author information

Citation: Nie F, Zeng CC, Tong GD, Shao MM, Le XH, Deng X, et al. The relationship between the distribution of HBcAg in liver cells and the pathological manifestations of the liver in 429 HBeAg-positive chronic HBV-infected individuals. Gastroenterol & Hepatol Res. 2024;6(3):11. doi: 10.53388/ghr2024011.

Abstract

Background

The natural history of chronic HBV infection is typically characterized by four stages: the immune tolerance period, the immune clearance period, the immune control period, and the immune escape period. These stages are associated with the distribution of HBcAg in liver cells; however, this relationship remains a topic of broad debate within the field of liver disease. To objectively and quantitatively measure the intracellular distribution of HBcAg, this paper aims to design a method referred to as the "layered evaluation method" and to examine its validation.

Methods

The distribution of HBcAg in liver cells is assessed using Image Pro Plus image processing software, along with calculations of cytoplasmic and nuclear positive staining rates.

Results

The findings indicate that the highest proportion of patients exhibited a positive cytoplasmic expression rate ranging from 0-2.5%. More than 40% of the total sample was categorized within the 0-2.5% positive nuclear expression range. The HBcAg cytoplasmic positive staining rates were classified into five levels: a cytoplasmic HBcAg positive staining rate of less than 0.05% is designated as level 0, indicating negative expression; a staining rate between 0.05% and 5% is classified as level 1; a rate from 5% to less than 10% is classified as level 2; a rate from 10% to less than 20% is classified as level 3; and a nuclear positivity rate exceeding 20% is classified as level 4.

Conclusion

The inflammatory activity grade in these patients was positively correlated with the cytoplasmic distribution of HBcAg. Furthermore, the nuclear distribution rate of HBcAg was significantly higher in the G3 group compared to the other groups.

Keywords

distribution of HBcAg, pathological manifestations of the liver, positive staining rate

Copyright © 2025 Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License (CC BY-NC 4.0), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

About this Article

Cite this article

Nie F, Zeng CC, Tong GD, Shao MM, Le XH, Deng X, et al. The relationship between the distribution of HBcAg in liver cells and the pathological manifestations of the liver in 429 HBeAg-positive chronic HBV-infected individuals. Gastroenterol & Hepatol Res. 2024;6(3):11. doi: 10.53388/ghr2024011.

Copy

Export to RIS

Export to EndNote

Article History

Received	Revised	Accepted	Published
			September 30, 2024

DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.53388/ghr2024011

132 Article Accesses	Citation counts are provided from Dimensions. The counts may vary by service, and are reliant on the availability of their data. Counts will update daily once available.
58 PDF Download