Architect hbeag

Serum HBV-DNA levels were measured with COBAS TaqMan HBV Test v2.0 (Roche Diagnostics K.K., Tokyo, Japan); the lower limit of quantification was 20 IU/mL. Serum HBsAg levels were measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay using the Architect HBsAg QT assay kit (Abbott Japan Corp, Tokyo, Japan), and the HBeAg, anti-HBe and HBcrAg levels were measured by chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassay using the Architect HBeAg (Abbott Japan Corp,), Architect HBeAb (Abbott Japan Corp,) and Lumipulse HBcrAg (Fuji-Rebio, Tokyo, Japan) kits [12 (link)], respectively. The infecting HBV genotype was identified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using monoclonal antibodies directed against type-specific epitopes in the preS2-region (Institute of Immunology, Tokyo, Japan).

At the CML, all samples were re-analyzed by CMIA for HBsAg using ARCHITECT HBsAg (Abbott Laboratories, IL,USA) on ARCHITECT i4000SR platform according to the instructions of the manufacturer.
The samples were also analyzed with CMIA for anti-HBs and total anti-HBc using ARCHITECT anti-HBs and ARCHITECT anti-HBc II (Abbott Laboratories, IL, USA), respectively on the ARTCHITECT i4000SR machine following the manufacturer’s instructions. HBsAg positive samples were further analyzed for HBeAg and anti-HBe with the ARCHITECT HBeAg and ARCHITECT anti-HBe (Abbott Laboratories, IL, USA) assays. All HBsAg positive and isolated anti-HBc-positive samples were analyzed for antibodies against hepatitis delta virus (anti-HDV) with the ETI-AB-DELTA K-2 kits (Diasorin, Saluggia, Italy) according to the instructions by the manufacturer.

Qualitative HBeAg was determined by the commercially available ARCHITECT HBeAg (Abbott Architect, Abbott Park, IL, USA). Qualitative detection of HBeAg was used in patient’s monitoring during the follow-up to evaluate the HBeAg loss.
Qualitative HBsAg was determined by the commercially available assay (Abbott Architect, Abbott Park, IL, USA).