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  • Title: The role of transplacental hepatitis B core antibody in the mother-to-infant transmission of hepatitis B virus.
    Author: Chang MH, Hsu HY, Huang LM, Lee PI, Lin HH, Lee CY.
    Journal: J Hepatol; 1996 Jun; 24(6):674-9. PubMed ID: 8835741.
    Abstract:
    AIMS/METHODS: To investigate the influence of transplacental hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) on perinatal hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission, we studied the anti-HBc titers in 294 mother-neonate pairs. RESULTS: The anti-HBc titer was highest (10(5.13 +/- 0.80) to 10(4.36 +/- 0.97) in mothers, 10(5.13 +/- 0.76) to 10(5.52 +/- 0.98) in infants) in the 200 hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carrier mothers and their infants, second highest (10(4.51 +/- 0.76) and 10(4.68 +/- 0.76)) in the 60 HBeAg-negative HBsAg carrier mothers and their infants, and lowest (10(3.11 +/- 0.76) and 10(3.24 +/- 0.83)) in the 34 non-carrier mothers and their infants (p < 0.05). One hundred and ninety-two infants of HBeAg-positive carrier mothers received hepatitis B immunoglobulin as well as hepatitis B vaccines, and were followed prospectively from birth. Ten infants became HBsAg carriers, and their mothers had significantly lower anti-HBc titers than those of the mothers of 182 infants who did not become carriers (p = 0.003), while maternal serum hepatitis B virus DNA levels (29.9 +/- 23.6 versus 39.9 +/- 58.1 pg/10 ml) did not differ in those two groups (p > 0.25). The same trend was observed in the infants' anti-HBc titers in those two groups (p = 0.0006). CONCLUSIONS: The association of lower anti-HBc titers in HBeAg-positive carrier mother-infant pairs and the development of carrier status in the infants suggests a positive role of anti-HBc in the modulation of mother-to-infant transmission of HBV. A high maternal anti-HBc level in serum may be a negative predictor of immunoprophylaxis failure in high-risk infants.
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