Prevalence of renal abnormalities in chronic HBV infection: The HARPE study

Background & Aims Few data are available on the prevalence of renal abnormalities in chronic hepatitis B virus ( HBV )‐infected patients. The multicentric cross‐sectional HARPE study evaluated the prevalence of kidney disease indicators, in chronic HBV surface antigen carriers patients ( HB sAg+) with active or inactive infection. Patients and methods Two hundred and sixty‐eight HB sAg+ adult patients, naïve of any oral antihepatitis B virus treatment were prospectively included over 2 years. Data for renal assessment were collected once from patient files. Univariate tests and multiple linear regressions were performed with the SAS software, version 8.02 ( SAS , Inc., Cary, NC , USA). Results Among the 260 patients analysed, 58% were men, the mean age was 42 ± 14 years, 59.6% were inactive carriers whereas 47 patients, mostly active, were about to start an antiviral therapy. Prevalence of proteinuria, haematuria, glycosuria, uninfectious leukocyturia was 38.1%, 20.6%, 3.9% and 9% respectively. According to the international definition, a total of 64.6% of patients were found to have kidney disease. Diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidaemia were observed, respectively, in 4.6%, 9.2% and 38.8% patients. There were no significant differences in these results within the three subgroups. Conclusion Renal abnormalities are highly prevalent in our population and pre‐exist before the initiation of any antihepatitis B virus treatment. This emphasizes the need for: (i) a baseline renal evaluation in all HB s antigen‐positive patients; (ii) a regular renal monitoring before and during antihepatitis B virus treatment to diagnose and manage renal impairment and adjust antihepatitis B virus treatment doses to renal function when necessary.