TABLE 1.

Hepatitis nomenclature

Abbreviation	Term	Definition and comments
Hepatitis B
HBV	Hepatitis B virus	Etiologic agent of “serum” hepatitis; also known as Dane particle
HBsAg	Hepatitis B surface antigen	Surface antigen(s) of HBV detectable in large quantity in serum; several subtypes identified
HBeAg	Hepatitis B e antigen	Soluble antigen; correlates with HBV replication, high-titer HBV in serum, and infectivity of serum
HBcAg	Hepatitis B core antigen	Core antigen of HBV; no commercial test available
Anti-HBs	Antibody to HBsAg	Indicates past infection with and immunity to HBV, passive antibody from HBIG, or immune response to hepatitis B vaccine
Anti-HBe	Antibody to HBeAg	Presence in serum of persons with chronic HBV infection indicates low titer of HBV
Anti-HBc	Antibody to HBcAg	Indicates prior infection at some undefined time in past
Pre-S1, pre-S2	Envelope protein epitopes	Envelope proteins containing pre-SHBs epitopes
SHBs	Major surface antigen protein	The major protein that forms HBsAg particle is the smallest gene product (SHBs)
MHBs	Middle HBs protein	The middle HBsAg protein, containing pre-S2 gene product
LHBs	Large HBs protein	The large HBsAg protein, containing pre-S1 and pre-S2 gene products
Immune globulin
HBIG	Hepatitis B immune globulin	Contains high titers of antibody to HBsAg