Hepatitis B e antigen-positive and high levels of alanine aminotransferase are associated with prevalence of metabolic syndrome in chronic HBV patients.

OBJECTIVE

The interactions between hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and metabolic syndrome (MS) have not been elucidated. This study was aimed to investigate the relationship between metabolic profile and HBV infection.

METHODS

A retrospective cross-sectional study including patients infected by HBV (HBV group, n=121) and healthy volunteers (control group, n=263) was conducted, serum HBV viral load and markers, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels and MS were analyzed. Factors associated with prevalence of MS were explored with multivariate adjusted logistic regression analyses.

RESULTS

The prevalence of MS was 9.9% in HBV infected patients and 19.4% in controls (p=0.011). Factors associated with the prevalence of MS were (odds ratio, 95% confidence interval, p value): hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive (0.368, 0.107-0.653, 0.008) and high levels of ALT (0.183, 0.120-0.268, <0.001) in HBV patients. But clinical and virological factors (including age, HBV DNA level, male gender, BMI, and fatty liver) were not found to be associated with prevalence of MS in HBV patients who were HBeAg positive with high levels of ALT.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that HBeAg positive and high levels of ALT are independently associated with lower prevalence of MS in HBV patients. But HBV DNA may not have impact on the lipid metabolism. HBV-related immune reactions may play a certain role in the mechanism of MS.