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World J Hepatol. Feb 27, 2015; 7(2): 270-275
Published online Feb 27, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i2.270
Immune response to hepatitis B vaccine among patients on hemodialysis
Gasim I Gasim, Abdelhaleem Bella, Ishag Adam
Gasim I Gasim, Ishag Adam, Qassim College of Medicine, Qassim University, PO Box 15085 Buraydah, Saudi Arabia
Abdelhaleem Bella, King Fahad Hospital of the University, University of Dammam, PO Box 76104 Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Ishag Adam, Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, PO Box 102 Khartoum, Sudan
Author contributions: Gasim GI and Adam I coordinated the work and provide the entire required search; Gasim GI and Bella A reviewed the data and the literature; all the authors shared in drafting the paper and all of them approved the final version.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (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/
Correspondence to: Ishag Adam, MD, PhD, Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, PO Box 102, Khartoum, Sudan. ishagadam@hotmail.com
Telephone: +249-91-2168988 Fax: +249-91-2168988
Received: June 9, 2014
Peer-review started: June 10, 2014
First decision: June 27, 2014
Revised: November 8, 2014
Accepted: November 17, 2014
Article in press: November 19, 2014
Published online: February 27, 2015
Processing time: 248 Days and 18.1 Hours
Abstract

Infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) poses a major health threat worldwide, where the magnitude and overburden of chronic carrier state approaches 150 million chronic carriers. The prevalence of HBV is greater among dialyzed patients compared to the general population owing to their increased vulnerability to blood and its products, along with hazards posed by contaminated hemodialysis tools and devices. An electronic systematic search of the published literature was carried and data on the immunological riposte to hepatitis B vaccination among hemodialysis patients was extracted from relevant studies. End stage renal disease patients on hemodialysis have a lower or an absolutely negative riposte to HBV vaccine. Several means have been tried to improve this response with some success, nevertheless none have been universally adopted. Genetic investigations are foreseen to make a break through concerning HBV vaccination.

Keywords: Hemodialysis; Chronic kidney disease; Immune response; Vaccine; Adjuvant

Core tip: This article discussed the history of immunological riposte to various types of Hepatitis B vaccines among patients on hemodialysis based on published findings of an array of studies up to this year. Moreover, it tackled the possible causes for such a response and possible future ways out of this dilemma.