Objective: To investigate the presence and significance of HBsAg, HBcAg, and HBV DNA in renal tissues from patients with HBV infection.
Methods: The presences of HBsAg and HBcAg were measured in the renal tissues of 63 patients with HBV associated glomerulonephritis (HBV-GN), 20 patients with non-HBV associated glomerulonephritis (NHBV-GN), and 12 other renal patients with positive HBV markers (such as renal tuberculosis, renal calculi, renal cellular carcinoma, and renal atrophy, and so on) by immunocytochemistry. HBV DNA was detected in the renal tissues of those patients with positive immunocytochemic results by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
Results: HBsAg and HBcAg were present with the positive rates of 76.2% and 42.9% respectively in the renal tissues of HBV-GN patients, which were significantly higher than those of NHBV-GN patients, but had no statistical difference compared with those of other renal patients with positive HBV markers. The positive expression rates of HBsAg and HBcAg in renal tissues showed no statistically significant difference between HBV-GN patients with positive serum HBeAg and HBV-GN patients with negative serum HBeAg. By PCR, 13 out of 17 HBV-GN patients (76.5%) were positive, and 2 out of 8 patients with other renal diseases (25%) were positive.
Conclusion: The location of HBV in the renal tissues may lead to renal lesions, and it plays a role in the replication, the preservation of virus, and the transmission of hepatitis B.