Metabolic syndrome common with chronic hep B infection

(HealthDay)—Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is prevalent among patients with chronic hepatitis B (HBV) infection, according to a study published online March 29 in Diabetes Care.

Mandana Khalili, M.D., from the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues assessed prevalence of MetS and its influence on alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels and fibrosis among a multiethnic North American cohort with chronic HBV infection (777 patients).

The researchers found that 22 percent of patients with chronic HBV had MetS. MetS was associated with age (median age 54.4, versus 40.2 years without MetS) and sex (61 percent male). At baseline, MetS was not associated with ALT or aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI). However, ALT was significantly higher (P = 0.02) among those with MetS at baseline, and even higher (P = 0.003) among those with persistent MetS in adjusted multivariable analysis of serial ALT values. At follow-up, MetS was not associated with serial APRI.

“MetS was prevalent in this HBV cohort and was independently associated with higher ALT levels longitudinally,” the authors write. “These findings highlight the importance of screening for MetS and the potential for MetS to influence ALT and its interpretation in the context of HBV treatment decisions.”

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