Monitoring your treatment

One of the goals of treatments for chronic hepatitis B is to keep the amount of virus in the blood (that is, the viral load) as low as possible. Your doctor may monitor your disease by performing regular blood tests that assess viral load, the condition of the liver and your hepatitis B infection status.

Information about the types of tests and what they are used for are shown below. Many of the tests are simple to perform, but the results can be complicated to understand. Always talk to your doctor about your tests and the results so that you can keep track of how your treatment is progressing.

Tests to assess the condition of the liver
Alanine aminotransferase (ALT)	These tests measure the level of liver enzymes in the blood. The levels of these enzymes increase when there is liver damage, so when they are above the normal limit it indicates liver damage and the possibility of an infection.
Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)
Gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT)
Liver biopsy	A tiny piece of the liver is taken so it can be closely examined. This allows the grade and stage of liver disease to be assessed.

 

Tests to assess status of hepatitis B infection
Hepatitis B DNA (HBV DNA)	This test measures the viral load and indicates if the virus is actively reproducing. A high viral load indicates more virus and therefore a more serious infection.
Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)	If this test is positive, it indicates current hepatitis B virus infection.
Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)	A positive test indicates that the hepatitis B virus is actively multiplying.