Occult Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Hyperlipidemia Patients

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is associated with lower prevalence of hyperlipidemia (HLP). However, occult HBV infection (OBI) in HLP patients has not yet been explored. OBI is defined as the presence of detectable HBV DNA in serum or liver tissue but undetectable HBV surface antigen in serum. In this study, 1,036 HLP patients and 1,134 replacement blood donor controls were recruited. Among them, 252 HLP patients and 255 blood donors with antibody to HBV core positive were selected and analyzed. HBV DNA was confirmed by nucleic acid testing assays, and nucleotide mutations were analyzed. OBI was detected in 9.5% (24/252) of HLP patients and 2.4% (6/255) of blood donors, respectively (P < 0.001). In HLP population, 41.7% of OBI and 13.6% of non-OBI carriers were associated with daily alcohol consuming > 30 g/day (P < 0.01), while in control population those rates were not statistically different between OBI and non-OBI carriers (P > 0.05). Viral load of OBI in HLP patients was higher than that of OBI in blood donors (P < 0.05), which was a positive correlation between total cholesterol and HBV viral load levels (r = 0.474 P = 0.019). HBV vaccination rate was found significantly lower in OBI HLP patients than that in non-OBI HLP patients (P < 0.01). Importantly, mutations were found in basic core promoter region of HBV among OBI HLP patients. In conclusion, the frequency of OBI is significantly higher in HLP patients, especially those patients with heavy daily alcohol consumption.