Higher proportion of viral basal core promoter mutant increases the risk of liver cirrhosis in hepatitis B carriers

Background and objective Precore (PC) variant (G1896A) and basal core promoter (BCP) variant (A1762T/G1764A) of HBV are associated with risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in HBV carriers. However, little is known about their impact on the adverse outcomes of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative hepatitis and liver cirrhosis. Methods 251 spontaneous HBeAg seroconverters who had genotype B or C infection and received a long-term follow-up were enrolled. PC and BCP mutants were determined qualitatively and quantitatively to correlate with these adverse outcomes. The findings were validated by an independent case-control study, which included 184 patients with biopsy-proven liver fibrosis stages. Results In the longitudinal cohort study, BCP mutant and possibly PC wild type were associated with cirrhosis development, but not HBeAg-negative hepatitis. Multivariable analysis showed that only BCP mutant was an independent risk factor for cirrhosis development. Using quantitative analysis of BCP mutant, a higher proportion of BCP mutant, defined as a continuous variable, a dichotomous variable or an ordinal variable, was associated with a higher risk of cirrhosis. If we chose 45% of BCP mutant as the cut-off, the risk of cirrhosis was higher in patients with BCP mutant >= 45% compared to <45% in the longitudinal cohort; this finding was validated by the case-control study (adjusted OR: 2.81, 95% CI 1.40 to 5.67). Conclusions A higher proportion of BCP mutant increases the risk of liver cirrhosis development in HBV carriers with genotype B or C infection.