Seroepidemiology of hepatitis B virus infection among Chinese schizophrenia patients.

INTRODUCTION This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of HBsAg, HBsAb, coexistence of HBsAg and HBsAb, and the genotypic distribution of HBV in Chinese schizophrenia patients. METHODOLOGY A total of 1,694 schizophrenia patients, 9-85 years of age, were recruited for the present study. HBsAg, HBsAb, and HBV DNA were detected with commercial methods. ALT, AST, γ-GT, TBIL, and IBIL were measured by an automatic biochemistry analyzer. All statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 13.0. RESULTS The seroprevalence of HBsAg and HBsAb in 1,649 schizophrenia patients was 11.0% and 54.6%, respectively. HBsAb seroprevalence significantly decreased with the duration of the disease (p = 0.0009). The lowest seroprevalence of HBsAg was determined in 9.4% of the patients who had had the illness for < 1 year, and then increased to 11.7%, 11.3% and 11.7% in the patients who had had the illness for 1-5 years, 6-10 years and > 10 years. HBsAg and HBsAb coexisted in 69 individuals, which comprised 4.2% of the total subjects, and in 38.1% of the HBsAg-positive patients. Additionally, HBV titers were quantified in 64 HBsAg-positive samples; the highest virus titer was 6.14×108 copies/mL, while 12 patients had less than 500 copies/mL. Moreover, among 48 HBV strains isolated from 62 HBsAg-positive samples, 33 and 15 strains belonged to genotypes C and B, respectively. CONCLUSION Genotypes B and C HBV were the dominant genotypes distributed in schizophrenia patients, and the HBsAb seroprevalence significantly decreased with illness duration. Effective prevention strategies for against HBV transmission are required.