Hepatitis B virus DNA persists in the body after infection and in some people the disease recurs. Although rare, reactivation is seen most often in people with impaired immunity.
Hepatitis B goes through cycles of replication and non-replication. Approximately 50% of patients experience acute reactivation. Male patients with baseline ALT of 200 UL/L are three times more likely to develop a reactivation than patients with lower levels. Patients who undergo chemotherapy are at risk for HBV reactivation. The current view are that immunosuppressive drugs favor increased HBV replication while inhibiting cytotoxic T cell function in the liver.
No comments:
Post a Comment