{"title":"HBeAg-positive CHB patients with indeterminate phase associated with a high risk of significant fibrosis.","authors":"Yuanyuan Li, Yijia Zhu, Dongmei Gao, Yifan Pan, Jian Wang, Shaoqiu Zhang, Xiaomin Yan, Li Zhu, Chuanwu Zhu, Xingxiang Liu, Zhaoping Zhang, Jie Li, Yuxin Chen, Rui Huang, Chao Wu","doi":"10.1186/s12985-024-02561-1","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The risk of liver fibrosis in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with indeterminate phase is not well characterized. We aimed to compare the presence of liver fibrosis in HBeAg-positive CHB patients between indeterminate phase and immune-tolerant phase.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This multi-center, retrospective cohort study included 719 treatment-naïve HBeAg-positive CHB patients with normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Patients with HBV DNA > 10<sup>6</sup> IU/mL were categorized into immune-tolerant phase, whereas those with HBV DNA ≤ 10<sup>6</sup> IU/mL were classified into indeterminate phase. Significant liver fibrosis and cirrhosis were determined by APRI, FIB-4, transient elastography, or liver biopsy.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The median age of patients was 33.0 years and 59.8% of patients were male. 81.5% and 18.5% of patients were in the immune-tolerant phase and indeterminate phase, respectively. The APRI (0.33 vs. 0.27, P < 0.001), FIB-4 (1.07 vs. 0.72, P < 0.001), and liver stiffness values (7.80 kPa vs. 5.65 kPa, P = 0.011) were higher in patients with indeterminate phase than those with immune-tolerant phase. Patients in the indeterminate phase had significantly higher proportions of significant fibrosis (27.1% vs. 11.3%, P < 0.001) and cirrhosis (14.3% vs. 3.2%, P < 0.001) compared to those in the immune-tolerant phase. In the multivariate analysis, indeterminate phase (OR 2.138, 95% CI 1.253, 3.649, P = 0.005) was associated with a higher risk of significant fibrosis, especially for patients aged ≥ 30 years.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>HBeAg-positive CHB patients in the indeterminate phase had more severe liver fibrosis compared to those in the immune-tolerant phase.</p>","PeriodicalId":23616,"journal":{"name":"Virology Journal","volume":"21 1","pages":"287"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11562367/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Virology Journal","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-024-02561-1","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"VIROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: The risk of liver fibrosis in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with indeterminate phase is not well characterized. We aimed to compare the presence of liver fibrosis in HBeAg-positive CHB patients between indeterminate phase and immune-tolerant phase.
Methods: This multi-center, retrospective cohort study included 719 treatment-naïve HBeAg-positive CHB patients with normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Patients with HBV DNA > 106 IU/mL were categorized into immune-tolerant phase, whereas those with HBV DNA ≤ 106 IU/mL were classified into indeterminate phase. Significant liver fibrosis and cirrhosis were determined by APRI, FIB-4, transient elastography, or liver biopsy.
Results: The median age of patients was 33.0 years and 59.8% of patients were male. 81.5% and 18.5% of patients were in the immune-tolerant phase and indeterminate phase, respectively. The APRI (0.33 vs. 0.27, P < 0.001), FIB-4 (1.07 vs. 0.72, P < 0.001), and liver stiffness values (7.80 kPa vs. 5.65 kPa, P = 0.011) were higher in patients with indeterminate phase than those with immune-tolerant phase. Patients in the indeterminate phase had significantly higher proportions of significant fibrosis (27.1% vs. 11.3%, P < 0.001) and cirrhosis (14.3% vs. 3.2%, P < 0.001) compared to those in the immune-tolerant phase. In the multivariate analysis, indeterminate phase (OR 2.138, 95% CI 1.253, 3.649, P = 0.005) was associated with a higher risk of significant fibrosis, especially for patients aged ≥ 30 years.
Conclusion: HBeAg-positive CHB patients in the indeterminate phase had more severe liver fibrosis compared to those in the immune-tolerant phase.
期刊介绍:
Virology Journal is an open access, peer reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of virology, including research on the viruses of animals, plants and microbes. The journal welcomes basic research as well as pre-clinical and clinical studies of novel diagnostic tools, vaccines and anti-viral therapies.
The Editorial policy of Virology Journal is to publish all research which is assessed by peer reviewers to be a coherent and sound addition to the scientific literature, and puts less emphasis on interest levels or perceived impact.