Hepatic ALT flares linked to HBsAg clearance

Hepatic alanine aminotransferase (ALT) flares are associated with rapid decline and greater annual reductions of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection who achieve HBsAg seroclearance, say Japanese researchers.

Of the 392 HBsAg-positive chronic HBV patients included in this study, 50 achieved HBsAg seroclearance during the median follow-up of 14 years, reports the team from the Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Hepatology Research.

When patients were categorised on the basis of rapidity of seroclearance, the 22 patients who achieved HBsAg seroclearance within 5 years of HBsAg levels reaching 2 log IU/mL had a significantly higher maximum ALT level than the 28 who achieved seroclearance more than 5 years after reaching this threshold, at 487 IU/L versus 146 IU/L (p=0.03).

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