Impact of paternal hepatitis B on pregnancy outcomes in couples undergoing assisted reproductive technology treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND

This study intends to evaluate the influence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection on clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) and live birth rate (LBR) per woman and cycle in couples who achieved pregnancy through assisted reproductive technology (ART).

METHODS

PubMed, Embase, CNKI, Scopus, Web of Science, and Wangfang databases were comprehensively searched for articles reporting data on pregnancies achieved through ATR and providing information on the paternal HBV status and CPR and LBR. A random-effects model was used for the meta-analyses to pool odds ratios (OR) with corresponding confidence intervals (CI). Subgroup analyses were done based on the matching status.

RESULTS

The analysis included 10 studies (4,848 participants) for CPR per woman, 10 studies (28,951 participants) for CPR per cycle, four studies (2,327 participants) for LBR per woman, and seven studies (26,324 participants) for LBR per cycle. The analysis showed no considerable association between the HBV status and the CPR or LBR, with the pooled OR of 1.015 (95% CI [0.860-1.199], = 0.857) for CPR per woman and of 1.051 (95% CI [0.870-1.271], = 0.603) for CPR per cycle. Pooled OR for LBR per woman was 0.852 (95% CI [0.717-1.012], = 0.068), and for LBR per cycle was 0.999 (95% CI [0.851-1.172], = 0.987).

CONCLUSIONS

Paternal HBV infection does not significantly affect clinical pregnancy or live birth rates in ART pregnancies. Our findings inform clinical practice and provide reassurance to couples undergoing ART that paternal HBV infection should not be a major concern in terms of pregnancy outcomes.