Hepatitis B E antigen, abbreviated as HBeAg, is a soluble protein in the core particles of hepatitis B virus. In general, HBeAg is buried inside HBcAg. When HBcAg lyses, HBeAg dissolves into the serum from the liver nucleus, appearing later than HBsAg and disappearing earlier than HBsAg. Therefore, it is the second serological antigen marker that appears with HBsAg after human infection with HBV. HBeAg shows a transient increase in acute hepatitis, appearing in the incubation period before the rise of ALT, and then rapidly decreasing with the improvement of the condition before finally disappearing. The detection rate of HBeAg increased in the active phase of hepatitis B, indicating that liver cells were seriously injured and patients were highly infectious.
