ANTI-TNF-ALFA AGENTS TREATMENT AMONG PATIENTS PREVIOUSLY INFECTED WITH HEPATITIS B VIRUS – ARE THESE PATIENTS IN RISK?

Abstract

It is estimated that 2 billion people worldwide have been infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and over 350 million are chronic carriers. Patients who present antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) with con- current HBsAg negativity do not have chronic hepatitis, but only experienced HBV infection and were able to clear it.

Nevertheless, some of these patients may be occult carriers, in whom intrahepatic HBV replication can be detected. HBV reactivation is a commonly reported complication in patients undergoing chemotherapy for malignancies and in patients after bone marrow transplantation. Reactivation largely occurs in patients with chronic hepatitis B who are positive for HBsAg, but it can also affect previously infected patients who have apparently cleared the virus.

The HBV reactivation risk in patients with chronic hepatitis B (HBsAg +) undergoing anti-TNF-α therapy is also well established, however, information regarding the use of these drugs in patients Ac anti-HBc + / HBsAg- is more scarce. Recently, it has been reported a 5% HBV reactivation rate in patients Ac anti-HBc + / HBsAg- treated with anti-TNF-α agents, showing that this risk is real.

Since 2010, all patients of the Department of Dermatology at the Centro Hospitalar do Porto – Hospital de Santo António (CHP-HSA) that initiate biological treatment for psoriasis / psoriatic arthritis and are positive for anti-HBc are also consulted in the Hepatology Clinic in order to establish the existence of chronic liver disease, and if there is an indication for early anti-viral prophylactic therapy.

The authors aim to highlight the need for mandatory screening of HBV in all patients who will initiate biological therapy with TNF-α inhibitors, relatively consensual in the scientific community, but especially the need for vigilance and close monitoring of patients with potential occult HBV infection due to the possible risk of HBV reactivation.

KEYWORDS – Hepatitis B; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; Hepatitis B Core Antigens.