Ml. Rodriguez-mendez et al., Prevalence, patterns, and course of past hepatitis B virus infection in intravenous drug users with HIV-1 infection, AM J GASTRO, 95(5), 2000, pp. 1316-1322
OBJECTIVE: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HN) sh
are common routes of transmission. Therefore. markers of either active or p
ast HBV infection are present in many HIV-infected patients, particularly i
n intravenous drug users (IDUs). The aim of this study was to analyze the s
erological pattern of past HBV infection (presence or absence of anti-HBs)
and the course of past HBV infection (changes in anti-HBs status, and HBV r
eactivation) in two cohorts of IDUs with and without HN infection.
METHODS: HBV serum markers were studied in 388 HIV-positive and 197 HIV-neg
ative IDUs. Among them, 263 HN-positive and 50 HIV-negative patients with p
ast HBV infection (serum HBsAg negative and anti-HBc positive, with or with
out anti-HBs) were followed-up for a median of 21 and 13 months, respective
ly, to detect changes in anti-HBs status and HBV reactivation.
RESULTS: The prevalence of HBV infection (either active or past) was higher
in HIV-positive than in HIV-negative cases (90% vs 62%, p < 0.001), even w
hen stratified by years of drug use. Most cases (92% of HIV-positive and 89
% of HIV-negative) had markers of past infection. Among those patients with
past HBV infection, 60% of HIV-positive and 72% of HIV-negative presented
serum anti-HBs (p = 0.03). The incidence of anti-HBs loss was 1.8 cases/100
person-year in HIV-positive, and 1.8 cases/100 person-year in HIV-negative
patients (RR 1.0, 95% CI 0.1-94, p = NS). Incidence of anti-HBs developmen
t was 17.6 cases/100 person-year in HIV-positive and 25.6 cases/100 person-
year in HIV-negative IDUs (RR, 1.5, 95% CI, 0.6-3.5, p = NS). Only one HIV-
positive patient with markers of past HBV infection developed an active inf
ection (0.2 events/100 person-year).
CONCLUSIONS: HBV infection (either active or past) is particularly frequent
in HIV-positive IDUs. Most cases have markers of past infection, isolated
detection of anti-HBc (absence of anti-HBs) is more common in HIV-positive
than in HIV-negative IDUs. Despite their progressive immunosuppression, bot
h anti-HBs loss and HBV reactivation are rare in HIV-infected IDUs. (C) 200
0 by Am. Cell. of Gastroenterology.