Histopathological features of liver and its relation to serum transaminase levels in 91 cases of anti-HBe-positive chronic hepatitis B

Clinical profile and parameters of patients monoinfected with HBV and infected with HDV in Western Amazon

Background

Hepatitis Delta represents a greater risk in the progression of advanced liver disease and HCC compared with HBV. The exact mechanism that determines the spontaneous clearance of delta virus or its progression to cirrhosis remains unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the clinical profile of HBV and HBV/HDV individuals in the Western Amazon.

Methods

The study was carried out at the Specialized Outpatient Clinic for Viral Hepatitis belonging to the Centro de Pesquisa em Medicina Tropical de Rondônia/CEPEM. 100 individuals were included, stratified into two groups: 50 with hepatitis B virus and 50 with hepatitis Delta virus.

Results

The overall mean age was 48 years. For the HBV and HDV groups, 66 % (33/50) and 54 % (27/50) were men and 56 % (28/50) and 58 % (29/50) were on antiviral treatment, respectively. Patients with detectable HDV-RNA demonstrated high levels of ALT and AST compared to individuals with undetectable HDV-RNA. Comparative analysis between HBV carriers and infected with HDV shows significant differences in terms of age, HBV-DNA levels, albumin, hepatomegaly and splenomegaly.

Conclusion

Several markers were important for differentiating HBV and HDV infections. HDV-RNA detectable showed significant changes in biomarkers compared to undetectable patients, suggesting a possible worse prognostic effect in this group.