Distribution of HBV DNA and HBsAg in the liver of patients with liver cirrhosis and its significance

Hepatitis B virus(HBV)DNA and HBsAg were detected in 51 human paraf-fin-embedded sections of liver cirrhosis by the double labelling technique of in situ hybfidiza-tion and PAP method.The results showed that the positive sections were 21(41.2％)for HBVDNA,43(84.3％)for HBsAg and 19(37.3％)for both HBV DNA and HBsAg.HBV DNA-positivegrains were localized predominantly in the cytoplasm of hepatic cells or in both nucleus andcytoplasm,a few only in the nucleus or the inner side of the cell membrane.In active cirrhosisand inactive cirrhosis,the positive rates of HBV DNA were 52.8％ and 13.3％,respectively,andfor both HBV DNA and HBsAg,they were 47.2％ and 13.3％ restively.The positive rate ishigher in active cirrhosis than in inactive cirrhosis(P<0.05).The results further indicated that theinfection of HBV and the existence and persistent action of HBV DNA in the liver tissues areone of the important factors of the development of liver cirrhosis.