Hepatitis B Core Antibody Negativity in a Chronic Hepatitis B Infected Patient: Report of an Unusual Serological Pattern
Published: August 1, 2017 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2017/26821.10498
Vijeta Bajpai, Ekta Gupta, Naveen Kundu, Shvetank Sharma, SM Shashtry
1. Senior Resident, Department of Clinical Virology, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi, India.
2. Additional Professor, Department of Clinical Virology, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi, India.
3. Senior Resident, Department of Clinical Virology, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi, India.
4. Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Research, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi, India.
5. Assistant Professor, Department of Hepatology, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Correspondence
Dr. Ekta Gupta,
Additional Professor, Department of Clinical Virology, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi-110070, India.
E-mail: ektagaurisha@gmail.com
Diagnosis of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection is established by the presence of various hepatitis B serological and molecular markers. Expression of these serological markers may vary in natural course of HBV infection. We report a case of an unusual HBV serological pattern in a Chronic Hepatitis B (CHB) infected patient demonstrating absence of Hepatitis B core Antibody (Anti-HBc) in spite of presence of Hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg) and HBV DNA. Since, anti-HBc represents a reliable serological marker for past exposure of HBV infection, therefore we emphasize on the presence of such unusual serological pattern which could lead to doubts in the interpretation of results.
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