Determining Occult HBV Infection in Patients with Isolated Hepatitis B Core Antibody Positivity

Patients with isolated hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) positivity (i.e., negative for hepatitis B surface antigens and antibodies but HBcAb-positive) either have cleared hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and have hepatitis B surface antibody titers below the lower level of detection or have occult HBV infection (OBI). Currently the only reliable way to diagnose OBI is to measure intrahepatic HBV DNA in liver tissue, requiring a liver biopsy.

To determine the true prevalence of OBI, researchers tested the livers of 100 transplant donors who had isolated HBcAb positivity. They assessed total HBV DNA by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and HBV covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) with an in-house droplet digital PCR assay in liver ti…