Inflammatory bowel disease and hepatitis B and C in Western Balkans: A referral centre study and review of the literature

Abstract

This study demonstrates that prevalence of HBV and HCV infection in a large IBD cohort from Western Balkans is compared to that of the background population. IBD patients under immunosuppressants may apparently be treated with safety if preventive antiviral treatment is administered.

The Influence of Anti-TNF Therapy on the Course of Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

“…In our study, a majority of patients with IBD achieved clinical remissions without any significant changes in the hepatic biochemical profiles or viral loads before and after the anti-TNF treatment. Our data are consistent with the literature [18][19][20][21][22] (Table 3), including multiple rheumatological studies, demonstrating favorable short-and long-term safety profiles of infliximab and adalimumab in patients with IBD and chronic HCV infections [32][33][34]. All of our patients received long-term treatments with anti-TNF agents with a mean duration of 27 months.…”

“…In this study, only one patient had concurrent IBD (UC) and chronic HCV, who was treated with infliximab. This patient had clinical remission for IBD but had HBT flare of greater than 1.5 of the upper normal limit [22]. Eight of the 14 articles, four review articles [23][24][25][26] and four original articles [27][28][29][30], were excluded as they did not evaluate the use of anti-TNF agents in patients presenting with both IBD and chronic HCV infection.…”

Impact of immunosuppressive therapy on hepatitis B vaccination in inflammatory bowel diseases

“…Several studies in children and adults have demonstrated that the response rate against HBV was significantly lower among IBD patients than among healthy controls [17][18][19][20]. A prospective study by Altunöz et al [28] found that the response rate in 102 IBD patients was significantly lower (76%) than that in 52 controls (100%) (P < 0.001).…”

“…The rate of vaccination against HBV remains low among IBD patients [17][18][19][20]. The Consensus from the European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation on opportunistic infections recommends testing all IBD patients for HBV at diagnosis and vaccinating all HBV-negative patients [21].…”

“…Although recent reports have indicated that the prevalence of HBV infection in IBD patients is similar to that of the general population [17][18][19][20], less than half of IBD patients are vaccinated for HBV [17][18][19][20]. The Consensus from the European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation on opportunistic infections recommends testing all IBD patients for HBV at diagnosis and vaccinating all HBVnegative patients [21].…”