Fibromyalgia (FM) is a syndrome characterized by widespread and chronic
musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, morning stiffness, and sleep disturbance.
However, the etiopathogenesis of FM remains unclear.
Various
etiological factors have been suggested to trigger FM. These include
systemic rheumatismal disease, physical trauma, psychological disorders,
and chronic infections.
We determined the prevalence of FM in patients
with chronic active hepatitis B virus (HBV) and inactive hepatitis B
carriers, compared with matched healthy controls.
Seventy-seven HBV
patients (39 HBV carriers and 38 with chronic active hepatitis), were
evaluated for FM syndrome. Seventy-seven HBsAg-negative healthy subjects
were enrolled as a control group. We found that FM was very prevalent
in patients with HBV infections (22% of the total). We found no
difference in FM prevalence when patients with chronic active hepatitis B
infections (21% FM prevalence) and those who were inactive hepatitis B
carriers (23% FM prevalence) were compared. FM was not associated with
the levels of HBV-DNA, ALT, or AST.
Recognition and management of FM in
HBsAg-positive patients will aid in improvement of quality-of-life. We
fully accept that our preliminary results require confirmation in
studies including larger numbers of patients. More work is needed to
allow us to understand the role played by, and the relevance of,
infections (including HBV) in FM syndrome pathogenesis.
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