Accumulating evidence suggests the presence of latent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in the liver of individuals negative for HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) but positive for antibodies to HBV core antigen (anti-HBc) at low titer. It remains unclear, however, whether positive anti-HBc in the serum invariably reflects latent HBV infection. In this study, we examined the presence of HBV genomes in the liver tissue of 33 donors and 30 recipients of living-related liver transplantation with positive for anti-HBc together with time course changes in their anti-HBc titer. None of these anti-HBc-positive healthy donors or recipients was positive for HBV-DNA nor anti-HBc at high titer (200 dilution) in their sera. However, HBV-DNA was detected in the liver tissue of 24 of 33 healthy anti-HBc-positive donors (72.7%) and five of 30 anti-HBc-positive recipients (16.7%). Interestingly, anti-HBc was continuously positive in all healthy donors tested. In contrast, anti-HBc titers in 75% of recipients, who were positive for anti-HBc at the time of liver transplantation, gradually decreased after the operation, and finally became negative after the mean follow up period of 9.0 months (range 1.2-45.1). Notably, HBV-DNA was never detected in the liver of those recipients who were transiently positive for anti-HBc. In conclusion, our findings suggested the possibility that presence of circulating anti-HBc does not always reflect the presence of HBV genomes in the liver tissue of anti-HBc-positive patients.