The impact of HBV/HCV coinfection on HBV DNA levels and the severity of liver diseases in HBV-infected patients undergoing hemodialysis

Objective To investigate the impact of hepatitis B virus (HBV) /hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection on HBV DNA levels and the severity of liver diseases in HBV-infected patients undergoing hemodialysis.Methods A total of 178 hemodialysis patients showing positivity for HBV infection were enrolled for study and divided into two groups according to co-or monoinfection status.Eighty-six patients tested positive for both HBV and HCV (HBV+/HCV+ group) , and 92 patients tested positive for HBV and negative for HCV (HBV+/HCV-group) .HBV DNA levels and blood biochemical parameters were measured.The significance of inter-group differences was assessed by t-test (normally distributed data) or Mann-Whitney U test (non-normally distributed data) .Multivariate logistic stepwise regression was use to evaluate the association of parameters with HCV infection.Results The two groups showed similar levels of serum aminotransferase (P>0.05) .In contrast, the HBV+/HCV+ patients showed significantly lower levels of serum HBV DNA than the HBV+/HCV-patients [ (0.42±0.10) vs. (1.25±0.28) log scale/ml, P<0.01].HCV infection was found to be independently associated with lower HBV DNA levels (OR=0.316, 95% CI:0.236-0.865, P<0.01) .Conclusion In hemodialysis patients, HBV/HCV coinfection is associated with lower HBV DNA levels but not more severe liver diseases.