After dividing all patients into chronic HBV infection (CHI; n = 48), chronic hepatitis B (CHB; n = 72), and HBV-associated acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF; n = 30) groups according to the disease severity (Table 1), we found that the CHI group displayed increased anti-EBP-1 prevalence (CHI: 4/48 vs HC: 0/59), but not the titres, compared with HCs; CHB and ACLF groups had significantly increased prevalence and titres of serum anti-EBP-1 IgG compared with HCs, with the ACLF group showing the highest prevalence and titres of anti-EBP-1 IgG among all groups (Figure 3B). The gene discussed is PA2G4; the disease is chronic hepatitis B virus infection.