Table 1. Comparison of clinical data between the occult subjects and HBV carriers used in this study.

Clinical factors	OccultHBV (41)	Carrier HBV (40)	P-value
Age in years, mean ± SD	44.2±18.4	40.1±19.0	NS
Sex, M/F	22/19	21/19	NS
ALT (IU/L) mean (range)	NA	28.4±10.3	NA
HBV-DNA (pg/ml) median (range)	0.01 (0–0.139)*	1812.8 (0–6,000)	NS

NA: not available, NS: not significant.

^*Among 41 occult HBV samples, HBV DNA levels from 36 samples were below LOD of the Versant HBV DNA 3.0 assay (<0.007 pg/mL). Because the sensitivity of the nested PCR assay (0.001 pg/mL, data not shown) is higher than the Versant HBV DNA 3.0 assay (0.007 pg/mL), only five from 41 amplified samples were detected.