PLoS ONE (Jul 2008)

An accurate definition of the status of inactive hepatitis B virus carrier by a combination of biomarkers (FibroTest-ActiTest) and viral load.

  • Yen Ngo,
  • Yves Benhamou,
  • Vincent Thibault,
  • Patrick Ingiliz,
  • Mona Munteanu,
  • Pascal Lebray,
  • Dominique Thabut,
  • Rachel Morra,
  • Djamila Messous,
  • Frederic Charlotte,
  • Françoise Imbert-Bismut,
  • Dominique Bonnefont-Rousselot,
  • Joseph Moussalli,
  • Vlad Ratziu,
  • Thierry Poynard

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0002573
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 3, no. 7
p. e2573

Abstract

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BackgroundThe combination of transaminases (ALT), biopsy, HBeAg and viral load have classically defined the inactive status of carriers of chronic hepatitis B. The use of FibroTest (FT) and ActiTest (AT), biomarkers of fibrosis and necroinflammatory activity, has been previously validated as alternatives to biopsy. We compared the 4-year prognostic value of combining FT-AT and viral load for a better definition of the inactive carrier status.Methods and findings1,300 consecutive CHB patients who had been prospectively followed since 2001 were pre-included. The main endpoint was the absence of liver-related complications, transplantation or death. We used the manufacturers' definitions of normal FT (Results1,074 patients with baseline FT-AT and viral load were included: 41 years old, 47% African, 27% Asian, 26% Caucasian. At 4 years follow-up, 50 complications occurred (survival without complications 93.4%), 36 deaths occurred (survival 95.0%), including 27 related to HBV (survival 96.1%). The prognostic value of FT was higher than those of viral load or ALT when compared using area under the ROC curves [0.89 (95%CI 0.84-0.93) vs 0.64 (0.55-0.71) vs 0.53 (0.46-0.60) all PConclusionIn patients with chronic hepatitis B, a combination of FibroTest-ActiTest and viral load testing accurately defined the prognosis and the inactive carrier status.