Naïve hepatitis B e antigen-negative chronic hepatitis B patients are at risk of carotid atherosclerosis: A prospective study

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of included subjects and comparison between infected and non-infected subjects and among patients infected by hepatitis B virus according to the phase of the infection (chronic hepatitis B vs inactive carriers)

	Controls	Chronic hepatitis B	Inactive carriers
	n = 201	n = 49	n = 152	P value1	P value2
Age, yr	48.1 ± 10.2	48.4 ± 12.0	46.5 ± 13.4	0.29	0.28
Male sex (%)	103 (51.2)	31 (64.6)	84 (54.9)	0.13	0.16
Race (%)				< 0.001	0.48
Caucasian	186 (92.5)	35 (72.9)	102 (66.7)
Asian	2 (1.0)	6 (12.5)	11 (7.2)
African	0 (0)	6 (12.5)	28 (18.3)
Hispanic	13 (6.5)	1 (2.1)	12 (7.8)
Cardiovascular risk factors (%)
Tobacco exposure	74 (36.8)	15 (31.3)	45 (29.6)	0.09	0.48
Alcohol intake3	70 (34.8)	11 (22.9)	23 (15.4)	< 0.001	0.17
Hypertension	40 (19.9)	11 (22.9)	27 (17.8)	0.46	0.28
Diabetes	4 (2.0)	4 (8.3)	6 (3.9)	0.08	0.2
Dyslipidemia	46 (22.9)	3 (6.3)	31 (20.4)	0.08	0.02
Central obesity	52 (25.9)	10 (20.8)	27 (17.9)	0.04	0.4
BMI, kg/m2	25.3 ± 3.6	26.0 ± 3.9	25.2 ± 4.0	0.76	0.22
Liver cirrhosis (%)	0 (0)	12 (24.4)	0 (0)	< 0.001	< 0.001
ALT, IU/mL	22.6 ± 12.7	59.7 ± 48.6	25.6 ± 16.7	< 0.001	< 0.001
GGT, IU/mL	30.4 ± 30.9	60.7 ± 87.9	31.5 ± 63.3	0.24	< 0.001
LDL, mg/dL4	131.9 ± 38.3	116.9 ± 30.7	118.1 ± 32.6	0.002	0.82
Triglycerides, mg/dL	108.0 ± 56.7	96.4 ± 46.3	106.8 ± 59.1	0.54	0.26
C-reactive protein, mg/dL5	0.29 ± 0.42	0.84 ± 1.90	1.00 ± 9.00	0.42	0.88
HOMA index5	2.05 ± 1.84	4.20 ± 3.50	3.40 ± 3.90	< 0.001	0.18
HBsAg, logIU/mL	-	3.6 ± 0.8	2.9 ± 1.2	-	0.001
HBV DNA, logIU/mL	-	4.4 ± 1.8	2.4 ± 1.1	-	< 0.001
Transient elastography, kPa	4.5 ± 1.4	11.3 ± 10.9	5.5 ± 2.4	< 0.001	< 0.001
CAP, dB/m	246.5 ± 54.5	227.4 ± 55.0	227.2 ± 56.2	0.001	0.98

Data are expressed as the median (interquartile range) or as the n (%).

¹Comparison between hepatitis B virus-infected and non-infected controls.

²Comparison between patients with chronic hepatitis B and inactive carriers.

³Significant alcohol intake was defined as > 30 g per day for men and > 20 g per day for women.

⁴These data were available in 132 non-infected subjects.

⁵This data was available in 83 non-infected subjects. ALT: Alanine transaminase; CAP: Control attenuation parameter; GGT: Gamma glutamyltransferase; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HBsAg: Hepatitis B surface antigen; BMI: Body mass index; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein; HOMA: Homeostasis model assessment.