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. 2024 Nov 21:11:1481051.
doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1481051. eCollection 2024.

Effect of fatty liver disease on liver function and fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B: a cross-sectional study

Xiaohui Fang #  1   2 , Yuhang Yin #  1   3 , Haonan Zhao #  1   2 , Cai'e Wang #  1   2 , Hui Li  1   2 , Yiyang Shang  1   2 , Jiayu Li  4 , Yue Gao  5 , Nahum Méndez-Sánchez  6 , Xingshun Qi  1   2   3
Affiliations

Effect of fatty liver disease on liver function and fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B: a cross-sectional study

Xiaohui Fang et al. Front Med (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Purpose: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and fatty liver disease (FLD) are common chronic liver diseases, both of which can progress to advanced liver diseases with poor outcome. However, it remains controversial whether the presence of FLD aggravates the disease severity of CHB patients.

Patients and methods: All consecutive outpatients who were diagnosed with CHB at our department between March 1, 2021 and September 30, 2023 were retrospectively screened. They were divided into FLD and non-FLD groups. Liver function parameters and non-invasive indicators of liver fibrosis, including liver stiffness measurement (LSM) value, fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) score, and aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI) score, were compared between the two groups. Subgroups analyses were performed in HBeAg-positive, HBeAb-positive, HBV DNA > 10 IU/mL, mild FLD, and moderate/severe FLD patients.

Results: Overall, 201 CHB patients were included, of whom 76 (37.81%) had FLD. In the overall analyses, CHB patients with FLD had a significantly higher alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (47.04 ± 53.28 vs. 32.95 ± 35.10, p = 0.003) than those without FLD, but there was no significant difference in the LSM value (7.79 ± 5.16 vs. 8.19 ± 4.99, p = 0.508), FIB-4 score (1.13 ± 0.75 vs. 1.28 ± 0.99, p = 0.679), and APRI score (0.41 ± 0.46 vs. 0.36 ± 0.47, p = 0.535) between CHB patients with and without FLD. The above-mentioned statistical results in all subgroup analyses were nearly consistent with those in the overall analyses.

Conclusion: FLD may intensify abnormal liver function reflected by increased ALT level in CHB patients, but not influence the progression of liver fibrosis.

Keywords: chronic hepatitis B; effect; fatty liver disease; fibrosis; prevalence.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of patients’ screening and grouping. CHB, chronic hepatitis B; FLD, fatty liver disease; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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