Effect of menarche onset on the clinical course in females with chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the impact of menarche on the natural course of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in women.

STUDY DESIGN

Young women who are positive for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg; n = 101) chronically infected with genotypes B and C HBV were recruited at a mean age of 4.57 ± 3.08 years, and a mean follow-up duration of 23.98 ± 3.77 years. Clinical data, including age at menarche, HBV genotypes, serum HBV viral loads, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) titers, and serial liver functional profiles were analyzed.

RESULTS

Women with earlier onset of menarche had earlier spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion than others (hazard ratio, 2.0; P = .02) adjusting for HBV genotype and peak alanine aminotransferase levels before HBeAg seroconversion. The annual decrease in HBsAg titer from 15 to 20 years of age also was greater in the early menarche group compared with the late menarche group (0.11 ± 0.11 vs 0.05 ± 0.11 log10 IU/mL, P = .04). The baseline HBV viral load was also borderline low in female subjects with earlier menarche as compared with others (P = .06). Earlier menarche onset was associated with higher spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion, HBsAg seroclearance, and HBsAg seroconversion rate before 15 years of age in females with chronic HBV infection.

CONCLUSIONS

Earlier puberty-onset, indicated by menarche-onset, was associated with earlier spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion and greater rate of HBV clearance before 15 years of age in female subjects with chronic HBV infection.