Liver histopathological features of HBeAg-negative patients in the indeterminate phase of low-viral-load chronic hepatitis B virus infection

Lulu ZHOU; Bing DONG; Jiejing XIN; Guanghua XU; Na LIU

doi:10.12449/JCH250108

Volume 41 Issue 1

Jan. 2025

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Liver histopathological features of HBeAg-negative patients in the indeterminate phase of low-viral-load chronic hepatitis B virus infection

DOI: 10.12449/JCH250108

Department of Infectious Diseases，Yan’an Key Clinical Laboratory of Infectious Diseases，Affiliated Hospital of Yan’an University，Yan’an，Shaanxi 716000，China

Research funding:

Yan’an City Science and Technology Research and Development Plan (2014HM-09)

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Corresponding author: LIU Na， liunamei1984@163.com （ORCID： 0000-0002-9842-0112）
Received Date: 2024-05-06
Accepted Date: 2024-09-09
Published Date: 2025-01-25

Abstract

Abstract

Objective To investigate the liver histopathological features of HBeAg-negative patients in the indeterminate phase of low-viral-load chronic hepatitis B virus （HBV） infection. Methods A total of 271 patients with low-viral-load HBeAg-negative chronic HBV infection who underwent liver biopsy in Department of Infectious Diseases， Affiliated Hospital of Yan’an University， from September 2013 to June 2021 were enrolled as subjects， and the degree of liver injury was compared between patients based on age， sex， presence or absence of the family history of hepatitis B， HBsAg， and alanine aminotransferase （ALT） level. The chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. Results Among the 271 patients with HBeAg-negative chronic HBV infection， 86 patients （31.73%） grade≥A2 liver inflammatory activity， 72 （26.57%） had a liver fibrosis stage of ive， and 112 （41.33%） had moderate or severe liver histological injury. The proportion of patients with grade≥A2 liver inflammatory activity in the patients with ALT>20 U/L was significantly higher than that in the patients with ALT≤20 U/L （χ²=3.938， P=0.047）. There were no significant differences in the proportion of patients with grade≥A2 liver inflammatory activity between the patients with different ages， sexes， family history of hepatitis B， HBsAg levels （all P>0.05），there were no significant differences in the proportion of patients with a liver fibrosis stage of ≥F2 between the patients with different ages， sexes， family history of hepatitis B， HBsAg， and ALT levels （all P>0.05）， and the stratified analysis of patients aged≤30 years and patients without the family history of hepatitis B showed no statistical significance between groups （all P>0.05）. There was no significant difference in the degree of liver histological injury between the patients with different ages， sexes， family history of hepatitis B， HBsAg， and ALT levels （all P>0.05）. Conclusion Significant liver injury is observed in more than 40% of the patients with low-viral-load HBeAg-negative chronic HBV infection， and there is no significant difference in the degree of liver histological injury between the patients with different ages， sexes， family history of hepatitis B， HBsAg， and ALT levels. Even for the patients aged≤30 years who deny the family history of hepatitis B， there is still a considerable proportion of patients with liver injury， which should be taken seriously by clinicians.
- Hepatitis B， Chronic,
- Viral Load,
- Inflammation,
- Hepatic Fibrosis,
- Liver Injury

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References

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Liver histopathological features of HBeAg-negative patients in the indeterminate phase of low-viral-load chronic hepatitis B virus infection

DOI: 10.12449/JCH250108

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Liver histopathological features of HBeAg-negative patients in the indeterminate phase of low-viral-load chronic hepatitis B virus infection

DOI: 10.12449/JCH250108

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