ArticleBMC gastroenterology2026
Autoantibody profiles and fibrosis indices across HBV-related disease stages: a retrospective laboratory-based study in a tertiary hospital in China.
Article in BMC gastroenterology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
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.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChronic hepatitis B (HBV) is frequently accompanied by immune dysregulation, and autoantibodies are intermittently detected in clinical practice. However, the clinical significance of autoantibody positivity across different HBV-related disease stages and its relationship with non-invasive fibrosis indices remains unclear.
methodsWe retrospectively analyzed 151 patients with HBV-related liver disease, including chronic hepatitis B (CHB), liver cirrhosis (LC), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) and extended autoantibody profiles were evaluated together with the aspartate aminotransferase–to–platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4). Clinical and laboratory parameters were compared across disease groups, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed to assess the diagnostic performance of APRI and FIB-4 for identifying advanced liver disease.
resultsANA positivity increased progressively from CHB to LC and HCC, whereas extended autoimmune liver–specific autoantibodies remained rare across all stages. APRI and FIB-4 showed stepwise elevation with advancing disease severity, with FIB-4 demonstrating better diagnostic performance for advanced liver disease. ANA positivity showed no significant association with fibrosis indices, suggesting that these features may reflect distinct aspects of disease-related immune dysregulation.
conclusionANA positivity in chronic HBV infection appears to primarily reflect nonspecific immune activation rather than true autoimmune liver disease. FIB-4 provides practical and readily available information for identifying advanced liver disease, particularly in settings where liver biopsy or elastography is unavailable. Consideration of autoantibody patterns in conjunction with fibrosis indices may aid laboratory interpretation and support more informed clinical assessment in HBV-related liver disease.
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.