title: Impact of liver steatosis on response to pegylated interferon therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis B.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the impact of liver steatosis upon response to given therapy in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  84 consecutive CHB patients treated with 48-wk PEGylated interferon (PEG-IFN) therapy were enrolled. Baseline characteristics and sustained viral response (SVR) to PEG-IFN therapy were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean body mass index (BMI) was 27.36 ± 4.4 kg/m². Six (7.1%) had hypertension and three (3.5%) had diabetes mellitus. Steatosis was present in 22.6% (19/84) of liver biopsy samples. Age, BMI, and triglyceride levels of the patients with hepatic steatosis were significantly higher than those without hepatic steatosis (P < 0.05). SVR to PEG-IFN therapy was 21.4% (18/84). Sixteen of these 18 CHB patients with SVR (88.9%) did not have any histopathologically determined steatosis. On the other hand, only two of the 19 CHB patients with hepatic steatosis had SVR (10.5%). Although the SVR rate observed in patients without steatosis (16/65, 24.6%) was higher compared to those with steatosis (2/19, 10.5%), the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Occurrence of hepatic steatosis is significantly high in CHB patients and this association leads to a trend of decreased, but statistically insignificant, SVR rates to PEG-IFN treatment.
authors: School of Medicine, Department of Gastroenterology, Mersin University, 33070 Mersin, Turkey. drfehmiates@hotmail.com
authors: Fehmi
authors: F
authors: Ateş
authors: Mehmet
authors: M
authors: Yalnız
authors: Saadet
authors: S
authors: Alan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha