Distribution of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and anti-HBe in carriers with different levels of HBsAg.

Blood samples from 154 asymptomatic carriers of HBsAg were studied for the presence of HbeAg and anti-HBe using techniques of rheophoresis and a micro solid phase radioimmunoassay (micro-SPRIA). The level of HBsAg in each sample was determined by titration using reverse passive hemagglutination (RPHA) test. The significance of relationship between the titer of HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBe, and anti-HBc were statistically analyzed. Micro-SPRIA detected almost twice as many reactives for HBeAg and anti-HBe as were found by rheophoresis; the difference in sensitivity was significant (P less than 0.001). The mean HBsAg titer of 41 samples reactive for HBeAg was 11,181, while it was 3,032 for 92 samples reactive for anti-HBe. The remaining 23 samples with no detectable HBeAg or anti-HBe had a mean HBsAg titer of 1,018. The differences in the distribution of HBsAg among the three categories is statistically significant (P less than 0.005). HBeAg was most likely to be found in samples with higher concentrations of HBsAg.