Efficacy of antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis B with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

ObjectiveTo investigate the influence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) on the antiviral response of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and to provide a reference for clinical treatment of such patients. MethodsA total of 187 patients who attended Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital from January 2011 to December 2017 were enrolled and divided into CHB group with 43 patients, NAFLD group with 41 patients, and CHB+NAFLD group with 103 patients. Related indices were measured at enrollment different time points of follow-up, including body height, body weight, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase, four blood lipid parameters, four indicators of liver fibrosis, aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index, HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBe, and HBV DNA quantification, and the CHB patients and the CHB+NAFLD patients receiving antiviral therapy were compared in terms of treatment outcome at weeks 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 of antiviral therapy. The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between multiple groups, and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used for comparison between two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. ResultsCompared with the NAFLD group at baseline, the CHB group and the CHB+NAFLD group had significantly lower platelet count, ALT, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase, and right lobe of liver oblique diameter (all P＜0.05), and compared with the CHB group, the CHB+NAFLD group had significantly higher body mass index, total cholesterol, and triglyceride and a significantly lower spleen thickness (all P＜0.05), while there were no significant differences in the other indicators between the two groups at baseline (all P＞0.05). At week 12 of antiviral therapy, there were no significant differences in liver fibrosis markers and inflammatory indices between the CHB group and the CHB+NAFLD group (all P＞0.05); compared with the CHB+NAFLD group at weeks 24 and 48, the CHB group had significantly greater reductions in ALT (Z=-2.128 and -3.055, both P＜0.05) and GGT (Z=-2.025 and -1.631, both P＜0.05); at week 48, the CHB group and the CHB+NAFLD group had a significant reduction in HBV DNA (Z=-6.445 and -4.415, both P＜0.001), and the CHB group had a significantly greater reduction. The CHB+NAFLD group had a significantly lower HBV DNA clearance rate than the CHB group at different time points of antiviral therapy (χ2=14.237, 13.961, 15.226, 10.462, and 13.030, all P＜0.05). At week 48 of antiviral therapy, the CHB+NAFLD group had a significantly lower HBeAg clearance rate than the CHB group (χ2=5.309, P=0.021), while there was no significant difference between the two groups at week 96 (χ2=0.117, P=0.732). At weeks 24, 48, 72, and 96 of antiviral therapy, the CHB+NAFLD group had a significantly lower ALT normalization rate than the CHB group (χ2=12.049, 5.287, 11.407, and 11.375, all P＜0.05). ConclusionNAFLD reduces the antiviral response of CHB patients and prolongs the duration of antiviral therapy.