Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 May;42(5):963-972.
doi: 10.1111/liv.15233. Epub 2022 Mar 11.

Occult hepatitis B virus infection in hepatitis C virus negative chronic liver diseases

Maria Stella Franzè  1   2 , Teresa Pollicino  3   4 , Giovanni Raimondo  1   2 , Giovanni Squadrito  1   5
Affiliations
Review

Occult hepatitis B virus infection in hepatitis C virus negative chronic liver diseases

Maria Stella Franzè et al. Liver Int. 2022 May.

Abstract

Data concerning the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) occult infection (OBI) varies greatly in the different studies according to the sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic approaches and the HBV prevalence in the different populations examined. The clinical implications of OBI are still debated. While the impact of OBI in HBV transmission as well as in HBV reactivation under immunosuppression are well established, the role of OBI in liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development are still not definitively elucidated. It has been hypothesized that OBI might contribute to worsening the liver disease course when other causes of liver damage co-exist. Furthermore, much evidence suggests a role of OBI in the hepato-carcinogenesis processes through both indirect and direct oncogenic mechanisms that might favour HCC development. Data on the OBI clinical implications mainly come from studies performed in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. However, HCV prevalence has dramatically fallen in the past years also because of the advent of specific and highly effective direct acting antivirals, with a consequent abrupt change of the worldwide scenario of chronic liver disease. Information about OBI prevalence and possible clinical impact in non-HCV-related liver disease are fragmentary, and the objective of this review is to critically summarize the available data in this field.

Keywords: HCV-negative chronic liver disease; cirrhosis; hepatocellular carcinoma; intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma; occult hepatitis B infection.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flow chart of the studies on occult HBV infection published from January 1991 to December 2020 and evaluated in the review
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lozano R, Naghavi M, Foreman K, et al. Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2010. Lancet. 2012;380(9859):2095‐2128. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schweitzer A, Horn J, Mikolajczyk RT, Krause G, Ott JJ. Estimations of worldwide prevalence of chronic hepatitis B virus infection: a systematic review of data published between 1965 and 2013. Lancet. 2015;386(10003):1546‐1555. - PubMed
    1. Ott JJ, Stevens GA, Groeger J, Wiersma ST. Global epidemiology of hepatitis B virus infection: new estimates of age‐specific HBsAg seroprevalence and endemicity. Vaccine. 2012;30(12):2212‐2219. - PubMed
    1. Raffetti E, Fattovich G, Donato F. Incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in untreated subjects with chronic hepatitis B: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Liver Int. 2016;36(9):1239‐1251. - PubMed
    1. Varbobitis I, Papatheodoridis GV. The assessment of hepatocellular carcinoma risk in patients with chronic hepatitis B under antiviral therapy. Clin Mol Hepatol. 2016;22(3):319‐326. - PMC - PubMed