en Infectious Diseases Infectious Diseases Original Article Original Article <p dir="ltr"><font size="2"><font face="Times New Roman"><b><i><span style="color: blue"><font face="times new roman,times,serif">Background:</font> </span></i></b><i><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0)">S</span></i><em><span lang="EN" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34) mso-ansi-language: EN"><font face="times new roman,times,serif">erial measurement of  hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA</font> </span><font face="times new roman,times,serif"><span lang="EN" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34) mso-ansi-language: EN"><font face="times new roman,times,serif">levels in the liver and its </font></span><font face="times new roman,times,serif"><font face="times new roman,times,serif"><font face="times new roman,times,serif"><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34)"><font face="times new roman,times,serif">relation</font> </span><span lang="EN" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34) mso-ansi-language: EN"><font face="times new roman,times,serif">with</font></span></font></font></font></font></em></font></font><em><span lang="EN" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34) mso-ansi-language: EN"><font face="times new roman,times,serif"> liver damage and serum HBV DNA levels are guide to begin and/or end a treatment</font> course. <font face="times new roman,times,serif">This study evaluated the relationship between liver hepatitis B DNA viral load with liver histology in patients with chronic hepatitis B (HBV).</font></span></em></p> <p dir="ltr"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="2"><b><i><span style="color: blue"><font face="times new roman,times,serif">Methods:</font></span></i></b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span lang="EN" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34) mso-ansi-language: EN"><font face="times new roman,times,serif">Thirty patients with</font></span><span lang="EN" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34) mso-ansi-language: EN"><font face="times new roman,times,serif"> chronic anti-Hbe positive hepatitis B</font>, <font face="times new roman,times,serif">with liver enzymes &ge 2 times of the upper limit of normal and positive HBV DNA of any amount were entered in the study. They underwent percutaneous liver biopsy</font>. <font face="times new roman,times,serif">Liver and serum viral load were determined using </font></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN"><font face="times new roman,times,serif">real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method</font></span><span lang="EN" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34) mso-ansi-language: EN"><font face="times new roman,times,serif">. Liver function tests and liver histology for all cases </font><font face="times new roman,times,serif">were recorded</font>. <font face="times new roman,times,serif">The<b> </b>amount of viral load in the liver and histological grading and staging were recorded. Data were collected and analyzed.</font></span></font></font></p> <p dir="ltr"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="2"><b><i><span style="color: blue"><font face="times new roman,times,serif">Results:</font></span></i></b> <span lang="EN" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34) mso-ansi-language: EN"><font face="times new roman,times,serif">The mean age</font></span><span lang="EN" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34) mso-ansi-language: EN"><font face="times new roman,times,serif"> of the patients was 32.8±10 years and 24 (80%) patients were males.</font> <font face="times new roman,times,serif">Ten (33.3%) patients had HBV viral load levels less than 20000 IU/mL. There was a significant correlation between liver viral load levels with staging or grading of liver damage.</font></span></font></font></p> <p dir="ltr"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="2"><b><i><span style="color: blue"><font face="times new roman,times,serif">Conclusion:</font> </span></i></b><font face="times new roman,times,serif"><span lang="EN" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34) mso-ansi-language: EN"><font face="times new roman,times,serif">The results of</font></span><span lang="EN" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34) mso-ansi-language: EN"> <font face="times new roman,times,serif">the present study showed a strong correlation between liver viral load and liver damage in patients with chronic hepatitis B.</font></span></font></font></font></p> <p dir="ltr"><font face="Times New Roman" size="2"> </font></p> Chronic hepatitis B, liver, viral load, serum 209 212 http://caspjim.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-130-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Tahmineh Biazar tahminebiazar@yahoo.com 10031947532846004193 10031947532846004193 No Infectious Disease and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran. Yousef Yahyapour tahminebiazar@yahoo.com 10031947532846004194 10031947532846004194 No Infectious Disease and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran. Mohammad Reza Hasanjani Roushan mr.roshan@mubabol.ac.ir 10031947532846004195 10031947532846004195 No Infectious Disease and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran. Ramazan Rajabnia tahminebiazar@yahoo.com 10031947532846004196 10031947532846004196 No Infectious Disease and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran. Mahmoud Sadegi tahminebiazar@yahoo.com 10031947532846004197 10031947532846004197 No Infectious Disease and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran. Hasan 10031947532846004198 10031947532846004198 No Infectious Disease and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran. Mohammad Ranaei infectious.dep@gmail.com 10031947532846004199 10031947532846004199 No Department of Pathology Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran. Masomeh Bayani m_baiany@yahoo.com 10031947532846004200 10031947532846004200 Yes Infectious Disease and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.