Prevalence and influences of hepatitis B virus infection on inflammatory bowel disease: a retrospective study in southern China.

The prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been reported differently across the world. The present study retrospectively included 675 consecutive IBD patients (449 Crohn's disease, CD and 226 ulcerative colitis,UC) from July 2006 to July 2012. The rates of HBV infection (HBsAg-positive) were 13.6%, 16.8% and 13.8% in patients with CD, UC, and general population, respectively (P = 0.418). No significant difference in clinical characters was found between HBsAg-positive and HBsAg-negative IBD patients. The rates of anti-HBc and anti-HBs were 25.4%, 31.2% in CD and 30.1%, 24.3% in UC patients respectively. Liver function was not affected by the use of immunosuppressant in HBsAg-positive IBD patients. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), Hypersensitivity C-reactive protein (HsCRP) and platelet (PLT) counts were significantly lower in HBsAg-positive CD patients when compared with HBsAg-negative CD patients (P < 0.05). Infliximab was used less often in HBsAg-positive than HBsAg-negative CD patients (P = 0.010). Multivariate analysis showed that lower platelet counts (OR 0.992; 95% CI: 0.988-0.996, P = 0.000) and less common use of infliximab therapy (OR 0.127; 95% CI: 0.017-0.95, P = 0.045) were independent risk factors for HBV infection in patients with CD. To conclude, the prevalence rate of HBV infection in IBD patients was similar to the general population in Southern China. HBV infection does not affect the clinical characters and medicine choices in either CD or UC patients. HBsAg-positive CD patients have lower platelet counts and less common use of infliximab when compared with HBsAg-negative CD patients.