High viral load is the risk factor of delayed recovery in patients with acute hepatitis B infection / 中华传染病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To identify the relationship between viral factors and disease progression in patients with acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Methods Ninety-seven adult patients with acute HBV infection in Shanghai Changhai Hospital were enrolled in this study and followed up for 24 weeks. Epidemiological, biochemical and virological parameters of all patients were collected. HBV S region from sera of 54 patients with acute HBV infection were genotyped using direct nucleotide sequencing. Differences of means between groups were compared by t-test, and frequency between groups was compared by X test. Results The clinical manifestations of all patients were mild and the 83 patients spontaneously developed HBeAg and HBsAg seroconversion. However, 14 patients had a tendency of chronicity, with HBV DNA level higher than patients without chronicity tendency [(6. 17 ±1. 04) 1g copy/mL vs (3. 86±1. 85)1g copy/mL;t = 5. 95, P<0. 01]. Among the 14 patients, 6 obtained HBsAg seroconversion after antiviral therapy and the other 8 developed to be sustained HBV carrier who had not received antiviral therapy. The main genotypes of acute HBV infection were genotypes B and C. There were no statistically significant differences of epidemiological factors and biochemical results between patients with the two genotypes of HBV infection. High viral load at baseline was the risk factor of chronicity tendency. Conclusions The main genotypes of acute HBVinfection in Changhai Hospital in the year from 2003 to 2007 are genotypes B and C. There is no significant relationship between genotype and clinical outcome. While high viral load at baseline is significantly associated with chronicity tendency. Proper antiviral therapy can decrease sustained HBV infection rate.