Hepatitis B is one of the most common types of viral hepatitis in the world. For the last thirty years, only serological markers and liver function test have been utilized to monitor the disease progression and treatment response until the emergence of molecular detection methods. Hepatitis B V DNA quantitation is used extensively world wide for the diagnosis and monitoring of treatment of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The aim of this study was to quantitate HBV-DNA by Real time PCR method

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... and to compare the results with HBeAg detection in Hepatitis B patients. Material and Methods: Seventy one serum samples of patients with hepatitis (all HBsAg positive) were the subjects of this study. Serum HBV DNA of all these samples was detected by COBAS TaqMan real time PCR and HBeAg by ELISA. Results: Amongst Hepatitis B group patients, serum HBV DNA was detected in 61 out of 71 patients (85.9%). HBeAg was positive in 21% of patients (15/71). Majority of the HBeAg positive patients had a significantly higher serum HBV DNA levels than HBeAg negative patients. Conclusion: HBeAg status did not necessarily reflect HBV-DNA level in the serum, as 46/71 (64.7%) in the Hepatitis B group were positive for HBV DNA but negative for HBeAg.