Abstract: Objective To observe the serum level of fibrinogen-like protein 1 (FLP1) and hepatitis B virus-deoxyribonucleic acid (HBV DNA) load in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB),and analyze the correlation between them.Methods 204 patients with chronic hepatitis B were divided into S0 group (N=42 cases),S1 group (N=39 cases),S2 group (N=46 cases),S3 group (N=38 cases) and S4 group (N=39 cases) according to their gradings of liver fibrosis stages by liver biopsies.The serum FLP1 level,the logarithmic value of the copy numbers of HBV DNA load,and the positive rate of HBV DNA were compared among the five groups.According to the logarithmic value of HBV DNA copy numbers,the patients were divided into <3 group,3~4 group,5~6 group,>6 group.The serum FLP1 levels in these four groups were compared.Moreover,the correlation between serum FLP1 level and HBV DNA load in patients with chronic hepatitis B was analyzed by bivariate linear correlation test.Results With the progression of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B,the serum FLP1 level decreased,whereas the logarithmic value of HBV DNA copy numbers increased,accompanied by an increased positive detection rate of HBV-DNA (P<0.05);With the increase of the logarithmic value of HPV DNA load,the serum FLP1 level showed a downward trend with statistically significant differences (P<0.05);By bivariate pearson linear correlation test it was showed that serum FLP1 levels of patients with chronic hepatitis B were negatively correlated with the logarithmic value of HBV DNA copy numbers (r=-0.584,P<0.001).Conclusion The serum level of FLP1 in chronic hepatitis B patients decrease with the increment of logarithmic value of HBV DNA load and the positive detection rate.There is a negative correlation between serum FLP1 level and HBV DNA load in CHB patients.Serum FLP1 level may therefore be considered as a clinical parameter to monitor the viral replication.

Key words: Chronic hepatitis B, HBV DNA load, Serum fibrinogen-like protein 1