Factors positively correlated with HBs seroconversion in chronic hepatitis B – a single center experience in a German cohort of 387 patients

Aim:

The aim of our retrospective study was to investigate factors which positively influence HBs seroconversion in patients chronically infected with hepatitis B at a single German center.

Patients and Methods:

Data were available from 387 patients. The study population was observed over a time period of 16 years (from 07/2002 to 06/2018). Within our cohort, 212 patients (60,2%) were male and 154 patients (39,8%) were female. Median age at diagnosis was 31,7 years.

Results:

A total of 30 patients (7,8%; 21 male and 9 female) achieved seroconversion with the development of a sufficient anti-HBs-titer > 100 IU/ml. Delta co-infection was present in 10 patients (2,6%) whereas none of our subjects were co-infected with hepatitis C or HIV. Interestingly, analyses of our preliminary data revealed that underlying hypertriglyceridemia and diabetes may be associated with less rates of HBs seroconversion. As expected, antiviral therapy with pegylated interferon was related with significantly increased HBs seroconversion (8,3%) as compared to treatment with other antiviral agents like entecavir (5,2%) or tenofovir (2,9%). However, factors like hepatitis B genotype, body mass index, origin of the patient, and finally, level of liver enzymes had no significant influence on HBs seroconversion rates in our cohort.

Conclusion:

Features of the metabolic syndrome – like hypertriglyceridemia and diabetes – may negatively influence rate of HBs seroconversion in patients chronically infected with hepatitis B virus. We speculate that treating these concomitant diseases before antiviral therapy may increase the antiviral response.