Abstract:Objective To investigate the relationship between the expression of glycogen synthetase kinase 3β (GSK-3β) in placenta tissue and hepatitis B virus (HBV) maternal-neonatal transmission in hepatitis B patients. Methods Totally 189 pregnant women with hepatitis B who underwent regular obstetric examination and delivery were selected from April 2014 to January 2018 in our hospital (study group), and 106 normal pregnant women during the same period were selected (control group). The elbow vein blood was extracted before delivery from the pregnant women, and placental tissue were retained within 30 min after delivery, and the HBV-DNA was detected by fluorescence quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and GSK-3β expressions in placenta tissue of pregnant women were detected by immunohistochemistry. Then the femoral venous blood was collected within 24 hours after birth in the study group, and the five items of hepatitis B were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the newborns were divided into infected group and uninfected group according to the detection results. The expressions of GSK-3β in placenta tissue of infected group and uninfected group were compared, and the relationship between GSK-3β expression and neonatal HBV infection was analyzed. Results The positive expression rate of GSK-3β and the absorbance value of GSK-3β in placenta tissue of the study group were higher than those of the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P?0.05). The positive expression rate of GSK-3β and the absorbance value of GSK-3β in placenta tissues of pregnant women with HBV-DNA titer > 1?×?102 copy/ml were higher than those of pregnant women with HBV-DNA titer≤ 1?×?102 copy/ml, and the differences were statistically significant (P?0.05). There were 19 neonates with HBV infection in the 189 neonates of the study group, and the HBV infection rate was 10.05% (19/189). The positive expression rate of GSK-3β and the absorbance value of GSK-3β in placenta tissue of the infected group were higher than those of the uninfected group, and the differences were statistically significant (P?0.05). Logistic multiple stepwise regression model analysis showed that the serum HBV-DNA load > 1?×?102 copy/ml, positive serum HBeAg and positive expression of GSK-3β in placenta tissues were risk factors for neonatal HBV infection (OlR?=?1.956, 1.978 and 1.931, P?0.05). Conclusion The positive expression rate of GSK-3β in placenta tissues of hepatitis B patients are significantly increased, which increases with the increase of HBV-DNA titer in peripheral blood of pregnant women, and the high expression of GSK-3β can increase the risk of vertical transmission of HBV.