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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 7, 2021; 27(25): 3762-3779
Published online Jul 7, 2021. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i25.3762
Management of hepatitis B virus infection in patients with inflammatory bowel disease under immunosuppressive treatment
Georgios Axiaris, Evanthia Zampeli, Spyridon Michopoulos, Giorgos Bamias
Georgios Axiaris, Evanthia Zampeli, Spyridon Michopoulos, Gastroenterology Department, "Alexandra" Hospital, Athens 11528, Greece
Giorgos Bamias, GI Unit, 3rd Academic Department of Internal Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Sotiria Hospital, Athens 11526, Greece
Author contributions: Axiaris G collected the data and wrote the paper; Zampeli E, Michopoulos S, and Bamias G critically reviewed the literature and revised the paper for important intellectual content; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Georgios Axiaris, Evanthia Zampeli, Spyridon Michopoulos and Giorgos Bamias have nothing to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Giorgos Bamias, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, GI Unit, 3rd Academic Department of Internal Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Sotiria Hospital, 44 Kifisias Avenue, Athens 11526, Greece. gbamias@gmail.com
Received: February 4, 2021
Peer-review started: February 4, 2021
First decision: April 19, 2021
Revised: April 26, 2021
Accepted: May 27, 2021
Article in press: May 27, 2021
Published online: July 7, 2021
Processing time: 151 Days and 21.6 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: The management of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection poses significant challenges for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Lower rates of vaccination for HBV have been reported in this population and immunization programs should be encouraged and intensively implemented. In addition, patients who receive immune-modifying therapies may develop suboptimal responses to vaccination. In the presence of present or past HBV infection, immunosuppressive therapies may increase the risk for reactivation of the virus with adverse clinical outcomes. Close surveillance and/or prophylactic anti-viral treatment may be employed depending on the status of HBV infection and the IBD-specific therapy.