Measles-Associated Severe Pneumonia in a Patient with HBeAg-Negative Chronic Hepatitis B: A Case Report

Background: Every year, approximately 800,000 people die from liver diseases associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Complications outside the liver are common, such as fungal lung infections and viral infections. These complications may be associated with poor immune function, thus making clinical treatment difficult and increasing the risk of death. Therefore, HBV-infection-related liver diseases are worthy of clinical attention and further research. Case summary: We report a case of HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B in which the patient received entecavir as an anti-HBV treatment after liver dysfunction. During the treatment, the patient was diagnosed with measles and severe viral pneumonia. After comprehensive treatment, including active antiviral medications and mechanical ventilation, the patient recovered and was discharged. Conclusion: HBV infection causes liver damage, affects immune function, and is likely to be associated with viral infections such as measles. Consequently, infections may lead to complications, such as severe viral pneumonia, that endanger patients’ lives. To decrease complications and mortality, better understanding of the disease is necessary to enable early diagnosis.

Large spontaneous HBV DNA fluctuations and potential usefulness of a single point measurement of combined HBV DNA and quantitative HBsAg for the exclusion of HBeAg negative chronic hepatitis B: A prospective Tunisian cohort study

Background/Aims: We aimed to describe spontaneous short-term hepatitis B Virus (HBV) DNA level fluctuations and to assess the usefulness of quantitative HBsAg (qHBsAg) in Tunisian patients with HBeAg-negative chronic HBV infection.Patients and methods: We included 174 treatment-naïve patients with chronic HBeAg-negative HBV. A one-year prospective follow-up was carried out with serial determinations of HBV DNA, alanine aminotransferase levels and qHBsAg. Patients were classified into three groups: inactive carriers (G1), patients with HBeAg negative chronic hepatitis B (CHB) (G2) and patients with indeterminate state (G3). For this latter group, a liver biopsy was indicated.Results: Only genotype D was detected. During the follow-up, 21.6% and 19.5% of patients with low initial (<2000 IU/mL) and intermediate viral load (2000-20000 IU/mL), experienced a subsequent increase in their HBV DNA levels above 2000 and 20000 IU/mL, respectively. Significant variations of HBV DNA levels (≥0.5 log10 IU/mL) were observed in 61.1% of patients at 6 months-interval. Among the 174 patients, 89 (51.1%) belonged to G1, 33 (19%) to G2 and 52 (29.9%) to G3. Fourteen patients have undergone liver biopsy, among whom 7 (50%) showed moderate to severe liver disease. Combination of HBV DNA <2000 IU/mL and qHBsAg <832 IU/mL excluded CHB in 98.4% of cases.Conclusions: This study highlights the large short-term HBV DNA fluctuations in Tunisian patients with HBeAg negative chronic HBV of genotype D. HBV DNA < 2000 IU/mL along with qHBsAg < 832 IU/mL excluded CHB in 98.4% of cases. Significant proportion of patients with indeterminate state within genotype D would have HBeAg negative CHB.

Association Between Nonselective Beta-Blocker Use and Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis B Without Cirrhosis and Decompensation

Background: Nonselective beta-blockers (NSBBs) can reduce the incidence or mortality of certain types of cancers, and NSBBs exert a protective effect on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with cirrhosis. However, the potential preventive effect of NSBBs has not yet been investigated in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) who have a high HCC risk regardless of the presence of underlying cirrhosis.Aim: This study evaluated the association between NSBB use and HCC incidence in patients with CHB without cirrhosis and decompensation.Methods: From the 2000 Longitudinal Generation Tracking Database, we enrolled patients who were newly diagnosed as having CHB from January 2001 to December 2011 and then followed them up for at least 5 years. To estimate the causal effect of NSBBs on the time-to-event outcomes of HCC, a marginal Cox proportional hazards model was used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).Results: After adjustment, no significant benefit of HCC risk reduction was observed between the NSBB users and nonusers (adjusted HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.52–1.31). The cumulative defined daily dose (cDDD) analysis revealed no significant dose correlation among the three groups [adjusted HR (95% CI): 1.08, (0.56–2.05), 0.54 (0.17–1.77), and 0.76 (0.40–1.42) in the &lt;90 cDDD, 90 to &lt;180 cDDD, and ≥180 cDDD groups, respectively]. Duration-dependent associations were not observed. Multivariable stratified analysis results demonstrated that HCC risk markedly decreased in the patients aged &gt;55 years (adjusted HR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.25–0.96; p = 0.04).Conclusion: NSBB did not significantly prevent HCC in the patients with CHB infection without cirrhosis and decompensation. This study provided one of valuable results that it is not clinically required to use NSBBs as recommended chemoprevention for HCC in high-risk patients who have CHB.

Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Scope and Limitation of Ongoing and Innovative Therapies for Treating Chronic Hepatitis B

Millions of people of the world suffer from chronic hepatitis B (CHB), a pathological entity in which the patients are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and express hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBV DNA, as well as evidence of liver damages. Considerable numbers of CHB patients develop cirrhosis of the liver and hepatocellular carcinoma if untreated. Two groups of drugs (interferons and nucleoside analogs) are used to treat CHB patients, but both are endowed with considerable adverse effects, increased costs, extended duration of therapy, and limited efficacy. Thus, there is a pressing need to develop new and innovative therapeutics for CHB patients, and many such drugs have been developed during the last four decades. Some of these drugs have inspired considerable optimism to be a game-changer for the treatment of CHB. Here, we first discuss why ongoing therapeutics such as interferon and nucleoside analogs could not stand the test of time. Next, we dissect the scope and limitation of evolving therapies for CHB by dissecting the cellular and molecular mechanisms of some of these innovative therapeutics.