One-third of HBeAg-negative Women Experience "Flares" After Childbirth

— Christine M. Kukka, Project Manager, HBV Advocate

Nearly one-third of HBV-infected women experience liver-damaging "flares" within six months of giving birth, according to a study published in the January 2015 issue of the World Journal of Gastroenterology.

The doctors in Greece followed 27 hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative pregnant women from pregnancy through several years after childbirth. They measured the women's alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels (which rise when liver cells are damaged or die) and HBV DNA levels (viral load) every three months in the first year after childbirth and then every six months in the ensuing years.

Of the 27 women who completed the study, flares occurred in eight (29.6%) women, all within six months of delivery. Women who had viral loads exceeding 10,000 international units per milliliter (IU/mL) during their pregnancies were at higher risk of post-partum flares. The risk of flares was moderately increased in women with viral loads exceeding 2,000 IU/mL.

Because these women were HBeAg-negative, their viral loads were probably lower when they gave birth compared to HBeAg-positive patients who have high viral loads.

Experts concluded that HBeAg-negative women with HBV DNA levels at or exceeding 10,000 IU/mL were at higher risk of hepatitis B reactivation following childbirth.

Viral load during pregnancy far more accurately predicted which woman would experience postpartum flares than ALT levels during pregnancy.


Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25632200

http://www.hbvadvocate.org/news/HBJ12.2.htm

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