Relationship between occult hepatitis B virus infection and chronic kidney disease in a Chinese population-based cohort

Abstract

Objective: Previous studies have revealed inconsistent results regarding the association between occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Therefore, we conducted a prospective cohort study to evaluate the association between occult HBV infection and CKD. Methods: A total of 4329 adults, aged 46.2 ± 13.7 years, without CKD at baseline were enrolled while undergoing physical examinations. Occult HBV infection was defined as seropositivity for antibody to HBV core antigen. CKD was defined as decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR  0.05). After adjustment for potential confounders in the multivariate Logistic regression analysis, age, hypertension, diabetes, and the highest quartile of uric acid were associated with CKD, with ORs of 1.04 (95% CI: 1.02–1.05), 2.1 (95% CI: 1.46–3.01), 2.02 (95% CI: 1.36–2.99), and 1.86 (95% CI: 1.17–2.95), respectively. However, occult HBV infection was not associated with CKD, with an OR of 1.12 (95% CI: 0.65–1.95). Conclusions: This study did not find an association between occult HBV infection and CKD. However, high-risk patients infected with HBV should still be targeted for monitoring for the development of CKD. Keywords: Chronic kidney disease, Proteinuria, Estimated glomerular filtration rate, Hepatitis B virus