Clinical Significance:
‘e’ antigen (HBeAg) secreted protein is shed in small amounts into the blood. Its presence in serum indicates that a high level of viral replication is occurring in the liver. The hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) is not a structural molecule; however, more than two thirds of its amino acid sequence are identical to that of the core protein. It can be secreted from hepatocytes directly into blood as a soluble protein, which is thought to promote and maintain persistent infection. Its presence indicates high levels of virus in the blood, and it is an indicator of the infectiousness of the carrier. If this test is negative, but a person is known to be HBsAg positive, then it indicates low levels of virus in the blood or an “integrated phase” of HBV in which the virus is integrated into the host’s DNA. This test is often used to monitor the effectiveness of some HBV therapies, whose goal is to convert an actively replicating state to “e-antigen negative” state.
