{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,13]],"date-time":"2025-10-13T20:02:04Z","timestamp":1760385724542,"version":"3.40.5"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,8,11]],"date-time":"2019-08-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1565481600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,8,11]],"date-time":"2019-08-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1565481600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["lww.com","ovid.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Hepatology"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>It is not clear whether baseline hepatitis B core antibody (anti\u2010HBc) level in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)\u2010positive children with a normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level is predictive of spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion. We investigated the correlation between anti\u2010HBc level and the natural course of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) virus (HBV) infection in children, particularly the ability of baseline anti\u2010HBc level to predict spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion during long\u2010term follow\u2010up. HBeAg\u2010positive children with untreated CHB and a normal ALT level were followed longitudinally. Anti\u2010HBc level was determined by double\u2010sandwich immunoassay. Effects of anti\u2010HBc levels and other parameters on spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion and the natural course of CHB were assessed. A total of 182 children (106 males) with a median age at enrollment of 10.6\u00a0years (interquartile range [IQR], 10.3\u201015.3) were followed for a median of 19.8\u00a0years (IQR, 11.9\u201021.9). Spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion occurred in 85 children (46.7%) during the follow\u2010up. A baseline anti\u2010HBc titer of\u00a0&gt;500\u00a0IU\/mL (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.81), HBV genotype B and B\u00a0+\u00a0C (HR\u00a0=\u00a03.46), and a baseline hepatitis B surface antigen titer of\u00a0\u22644.8 log<jats:sub>10<\/jats:sub>\u00a0IU\/mL (HR\u00a0=\u00a03.09) were predictive of spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion, based on multivariable survival analysis (<jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">P<\/jats:italic>\u00a0&lt;\u00a00.001). In cases remaining HBeAg positive, their anti\u2010HBc levels increased gradually during follow\u2010up because of ongoing inflammation. <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Conclusion:<\/jats:italic> Baseline anti\u2010HBc level is predictive of spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion in HBeAg\u2010positive children with a normal ALT level. Anti\u2010HBc level reflects anti\u2010HBV immune response in the HBeAg\u2010positive normal ALT phase of CHB.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/hep.30788","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,5,23]],"date-time":"2019-05-23T19:23:39Z","timestamp":1558639419000},"page":"1903-1912","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/lww.0000000000001000","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Baseline Level of Hepatitis B Core Antibody Predicts Spontaneous Hepatitis B e Antigen (HBeAg) Seroconversion in HBeAg\u2010Positive Children With a Normal Alanine Aminotransferase Level"],"prefix":"10.1097","volume":"70","author":[{"given":"Ho\u2010Sheng","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine,National Taiwan University,Taipei,Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Pediatrics,National Taiwan University Hospital Hsin\u2010Chu Branch,Hsinchu City,Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jia\u2010Feng","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics,National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University,Taipei,Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tung\u2010Hung","family":"Su","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine,National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University,Taipei,Taiwan"},{"name":"Hepatitis Research Center,National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University,Taipei,Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Huey\u2010Ling","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics,National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University,Taipei,Taiwan"},{"name":"Hepatitis Research Center,National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University,Taipei,Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hong\u2010Yuan","family":"Hsu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics,National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University,Taipei,Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0179-5266","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ning\u2010Shao","family":"Xia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Diagnostics and Vaccine Development in Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Vaccinology and Molecular Diagnostics,School of Public Health, Xiamen University,Xiamen,China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pei\u2010Jer","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine,National Taiwan University,Taipei,Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine,National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University,Taipei,Taiwan"},{"name":"Hepatitis Research Center,National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University,Taipei,Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mei\u2010Hwei","family":"Chang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine,National Taiwan University,Taipei,Taiwan"},{"name":"Department of Pediatrics,National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University,Taipei,Taiwan"},{"name":"Hepatitis Research Center,National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University,Taipei,Taiwan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"276","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,8,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"hep30788-bib-0001-20241017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2340","DOI":"10.1053\/j.gastro.2007.03.111","article-title":"Viremia profiles in children with chronic 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