The frequency of hepatitis B virus infection in Greek patients with various types of glomerulonephritis

Abstract

The frequency of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was studied in the sera of 622 patients with glomerulonephritis (GN). The prevalence of HBs-antigenemia was 2.8% (18/622; eleven adults and seven children); the difference from 2.6% in the general population of Central and Southern Greece was not statistically significant (chi 2 = 0.01; p > 0.50). Two of the 11 HBsAg-seropositive adult patients with GN suffered from IgA nephropathy, one from IgA and membranous glomerulonephritis (MGN), four from diffuse proliferative GN, two from membranous GN and one each from crescentic GN and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Five children out of 12 with membranous glomerulonephritis, one out of 24 with IgA nephropathy and one out of 16 with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis had HBs-antigenemia. The frequency of HBs-antigenemia in children with MGN was 41.7%, which is significantly higher than in children with other types of GN (0.9%). All seropositive patients were asymptomatic HBsAg carriers, while one seropositive HBsAg child with MGN suffered from chronic persistent hepatitis. HBsAg was detected by the immunoperoxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) method in the glomeruli of only 3 children with MGN and HBs antigenemia, while HBcAg was not detected in any case. Our study suggests that in the Greek population there is no increased prevalence of HBs-antigenemia in patients with glomerulonephritis. Moreover, HBsAg was not found to contribute in the pathogenesis of GN in adults but it may be associated with the pathogenesis of membranous GN in children.

Hepatitis B Virus Status and Clinical Outcomes in IgA Nephropathy

“…Although the etiological role and association analysis of HBV in IgAN have been continuously studied, some conclusions are controversial. 6 , 7 Some early clinical studies suggested that hepatitis B did not play a role in the pathogenesis of IgAN, 8 , 9 or even did not affect the prognosis of IgAN. 10 However, some recent retrospective studies suggested clinicopathological differences between hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive IgAN and primary IgAN without HBV infection.…”