The Prevalence of Albuminuria in Hepatitis B Antigen-Positive Patients Based on the 5th and 6th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) Data

Background: The prevalence of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is estimated at approximately 3% in Korea, and it is also accompanied by extra-hepatic manifestations as well as chronic hepatitis. Of these, HBV glomerulonephritis occurs due to the immune complex deposit; it is a serious condition that may cause renal failure. Methods: We analyzed the data obtained from adults aged 19 years or older who participated in the KNHANES V-2 and 3 (2011 and 2012) and VI-1 and 2 (2013 and 2014), for which we estimated the prevalence of HBV infection and compared albuminuria and spot urine ACR between the HBV infection group and the control group. Results: A total of 20,024 subjects were enrolled in the current study. The prevalence of HBV infection was 3.8%. There were no significant differences in the prevalence of albuminuria (5.6±1.0 % vs. 6.9±0.2 %, respectively) (P=0.233) and spot urine ACR (22.23±8.95 vs. 17.87±1.05 mcg/mg, respectively) (P=0.629) between the HBV infection group and the control group. In addition, according to a subgroup analysis, there was also no significant difference in the prevalence of albuminuria between the HBV infection group, accompanied by chronic diseases such as HTN, DM, metabolic syndrome and dyslipidemia, and the control group. Conclusions: Based on our results, it can be concluded that only a regular follow-up rather than a meticulous monitoring of microalbuminuria would be sufficient in the subjects with HBV infection.