Fatty Liver Disease Found in One-Third of HBV Cohort

Almost a third of adults in a chronic hepatitis B cohort who underwent liver biopsies had coexisting hepatic steatosis, according to research published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology.

The study aimed to gauge the effect of fatty liver disease on liver disease severity in adults with chronic hepatitis B virus. The investigation included liver biopsy findings for 420 patients enrolled in the Hepatitis B Research Network in the United States and Canada. None of the participants were on hepatitis B therapy the month preceding the biopsy.

The median age of patients was 42 years. A little more than half were male, and 80% were Asian.

According to the study, 31.4% had fatty liver disease: 18.3% had steatosis only, while 13.1% had cooccurring liver inflammation and fat accumulation. Steatohepatitis was associated with older age, overweight/obesity, and diabetes.

Compared with patients with no fatty liver disease, those with steatohepatitis had 1.68 times the risk of advanced fibrosis, the study showed. Over time, such patients also appeared to have higher rates of incident cirrhosis. Additionally, patients with steatohepatitis averaged 1.39 times higher alanine aminotransferase and 1.25 times higher fibrosis-4 scores over 4 years compared with patients without fatty liver disease.

“Steatohepatitis was associated with advanced fibrosis and higher biochemical measures of hepatic inflammation over time,” researchers wrote. “Therefore, in addition to viral suppression, screening for and managing metabolic abnormalities is important to prevent disease progression in [patients with] hepatitis B virus.”

—Jolynn Tumolo

Reference

Khalili M, Kleiner DE, King WC, et al. Hepatic steatosis and steatohepatitis in a large North American cohort of adults with chronic hepatitis B. Am J Gastroenterol. 2021;116(8):1686-1697.