ReviewFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology2023
High-sensitivity HBV DNA test for the diagnosis of occult HBV infection: commonly used but not reliable.
Review in Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Hepatitis B in Isolated Anti-HBc Carriers: Predictors of Detectable HBV DNA and Implications for Risk-Stratified Screening.Viruses · 2026Article
- Serological and Demographic Correlates of HBV DNA Detection Below the Limit of Quantification in Treated Chronic Hepatitis B and HBsAg-Negative Patients.Biomedicines · 2026Article
- Molecular insights into the mechanisms of occult hepatitis B virus infection.Archives of virology · 2026Review
- Characteristics of occult hepatitis B infection among pregnant women in the Center Region of Cameroon: rationale for universal administration of hepatitis B birth dose vaccine.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Occult hepatitis B virus infection among hepatitis B surface antigen negative vaccinated healthcare workers in East Gojjam zone hospitals.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Article
- Complete Genome Sequencing of Occult Hepatitis B Virus in Hemodialysis Patients Reveals Subgenotype D2 and Immune Escape Mutations in Bangladesh.International journal of microbiology · 2026Article
- Isolated Anti-HBc in People Living with HIV: A 20-Year Experience from Istanbul, Turkey.Current HIV research · 2026Article
- Occult hepatitis B infection.Hepatology forum · 2026Review
- Advances in Novel Detection Technologies for Occult Hepatitis B Virus Infection: Building an Ultra-Sensitive Barrier for Transfusion Safety.Microorganisms · 2025Review
- Development of an over-gap droplet digital PCR assay and evaluation of serum HBcrAg/qAnti-HBc as noninvasive markers for intrahepatic replication-competent HBV DNA in chronic hepatitis B patients with HBsAg loss.Emerging microbes & infections · 2025Article
- Advancing HBV Diagnostics: The Role of Ultrasensitive HBsAg Testing.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Association Between Serum HBV DNA Levels and CCL-20, CD8a, CXCL-16, and GDF-15 in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B.Viruses · 2025Article
- Analysis of HBV infection characteristics and OBI prevalence in pregnant women: a focus on HBcAb + alone or in combination with HBeAb + subgroups in Northwest China.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Influence of Occult Hepatitis B Infection on Blood Transfusion Safety and Its Countermeasures.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Prevalence and Transfusion Risks of Occult Hepatitis B Infection Among HBcAb-Positive Blood Donors in a High-Endemic Region.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Transfusion-transmitted occult hepatitis B virus infection: current understanding, challenges, and its implication in blood safety.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- A critical review of diagnostic and prognostic markers of chronic hepatitis B infection.Medical review (2021) · 2024Review
- [Blood donor infected VHB detected by NAT probable phase in clinical resolution].Revista medica del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social · 2024Article
- Frequency of HBsAg variants in occult hepatitis B virus infected patients and detection by ARCHITECT HBsAg quantitative.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (OBI) is a condition in which replication-competent viral DNA is detected in the liver (with detectable or undetectable HBV DNA in serum) of individual testing negative for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg). It is a risk factor for transfusion or transplant transmission, reactivation after immunosuppression or chemotherapy, and progression of chronic liver disease and hepatocarcinogenesis. The long-term stable presence of covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), which is fully replicative in the nucleus of infected hepatocytes is the molecular basis for the formation of OBI. HBV genome in liver tissue, HBV DNA and anti-HBc test in serum are the gold standard, common method and alternative markers for OBI diagnosis, respectively. Due to the stability of covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) and the long half-life of hepatocytes, the existence of OBI is extensive and prolonged. The low and/or intermittent replication of HBV in OBI patients, the limitations of the sensitivity of serological tests, and the non-standardized and invasive nature of liver histology render the "commonly used" serological tests are unreliable and the "gold standard" liver histology is impractical, thus the findings from studies on the formation, diagnosis and transplantation or transfusion transmission of HBV in OBI strongly suggest that the "alternative" marker, the anti-HBc test, may be the most reliable and practical approach for OBI diagnosis.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.