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).
Read more...Labels: ALT flares, HBsAg clearance