Bahcebası Sami, Büyükberber Nuh Mehmet, Saglam Osman
Internal Medicine, Kayseri City Training and Research Hospital, Kayseri, TUR.
Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kayseri City Hospital, Kayseri, TUR.
Cureus. 2025 Jul 29;17(7):e88997. doi: 10.7759/cureus.88997. eCollection 2025 Jul.
This study aimed to determine how latent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection affects the treatment response and disease progression in patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). We retrospectively analyzed clinical and laboratory data from 36 hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-negative AIH patients, classified based on anti-HBc immunoglobulin G (IgG) status to identify latent HBV presence. Among these, 13 patients (36.1%) were anti-HBc IgG-positive, indicating latent HBV infection, while 23 patients (63.9%) were negative. Liver function markers were assessed at diagnosis and after one year of standard immunosuppressive therapy to determine treatment response. Our results indicate that patients harboring latent HBV exhibit a poorer biochemical response to AIH treatment, with persistently elevated liver enzymes and impaired liver function markers compared to those without latent infection. These findings highlight the potential impact of latent HBV on disease progression and treatment efficacy in AIH. We therefore recommend comprehensive screening for latent HBV in all AIH patients before immunosuppressive therapy and consideration of antiviral prophylaxis to improve therapeutic outcomes.
本研究旨在确定潜伏性乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）感染如何影响自身免疫性肝炎（AIH）患者的治疗反应和疾病进展。我们回顾性分析了36例乙型肝炎表面抗原（HBsAg）阴性的AIH患者的临床和实验室数据，根据抗-HBc免疫球蛋白G（IgG）状态进行分类以确定潜伏性HBV的存在。其中，13例患者（36.1%）抗-HBc IgG阳性，表明存在潜伏性HBV感染，而23例患者（63.9%）为阴性。在诊断时和标准免疫抑制治疗一年后评估肝功能指标以确定治疗反应。我们的结果表明，与无潜伏感染的患者相比，携带潜伏性HBV的患者对AIH治疗的生化反应较差，肝酶持续升高且肝功能指标受损。这些发现突出了潜伏性HBV对AIH疾病进展和治疗效果的潜在影响。因此，我们建议在所有AIH患者进行免疫抑制治疗前全面筛查潜伏性HBV，并考虑进行抗病毒预防以改善治疗结果。
