Half of Patients with HBV Genotype C Will Lose HBsAg


— Christine M. Kukka, Project Manager, HBV Advocate

Researchers predict half of people infected with genotype C of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) will clear the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) over their lifetimes. This strain of HBV is found primarily in Asia and among Asian-Americans. Clearing HBsAg reduces a patient's risk of liver damage and cancer.

In this study, researchers followed 2,121 patients between the ages of 28 and 75 who tested negative for the hepatitis B "e" antigen (HBeAg). Based on the 338 patients who cleared HBsAg over the course of the study, researchers predicted that 56.4% of patients with genotype C would lose HBsAg over their lifetimes, compared to patients with genotype B, who had a 45.7% lifetime clearance rate.
In addition to having genotype C, being male, having elevated ALT levels and lower viral load and HBsAg levels helped increase the patients' odds of clearing HBsAg.

The researchers, reporting in the March 2015 journal of Alimentary, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, wrote, "We found that patients with genotype C infection cleared HBsAg earlier than genotype B (age 49 vs. age 55)."

Source: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/
apt.13170/full


http://www.hbvadvocate.org/news/HBJ12.4.htm

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