The Autobio HBeAg ELISA is designed for the qualitative determination of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) concentration in human serum or plasma specimens.
Hepatitits B is a disease caused by viral infection. The route of infection can be improper needle puncture, blood transfusion or even by taking contaminated food or water.
Hepatitis B has become a significant problem for public health management. Almost one in every ten adults, who have been infected by Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), develops some form of chronic liver disease and becomes a long-term carrier of HBV. Screening for Hepatitis B is therefore urgently needed.
Hepatitis B is an immune disease. Invasion of the human body by HBV induces auto-immune reactions which damage the liver. The components of the virus (antigens) and the host responses (antibodies), the so called immunologic markers have often been used as diagnostic tools.
There are six immunologic markers of HBV: HBeAg, HBcAg, HBsAg and their respective antibodies. HBeAg however is detected only in HBsAg positive sera. Its presence coincides with the rapid propagation of HBV and high infectivity. It is also a marker of questionable prognosis including the development of chronic Hepatitis. On the contrary, anti-HBe represents minimum viral replication and greatly reduced infectivity. When a patient changes from HBeAg to its antibody, he or she is likely to enter convalescent stage. But it is also possible that patients with anti-HBe are long-term carriers of HBV. Nevertheless, patients with anti-HBe generally have optimistic prognosis.
