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Open Access Review Issue
Association between Hepatitis B virus and gastric cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Infectious Medicine 2023, 2 (2): 67-73
Published: 23 April 2023
Downloads:10

An increasing number of studies are suggesting that hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection may be associated with an increased risk of not only hepatocellular carcinoma but also gastric cancer (GC). Whether HBV infection can be a risk factor for GC remains to be explored. In this study, we systematically searched for all eligible literature in 7 databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang, China Science and Technology Journal, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and Embase). Eligible studies were required to have a case-control or cohort design. Sixteen studies were included and a meta-analysis was performed using Stata version 17.0. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The association between HBV infection and risk of GC was quantified by calculating the odds ratio and 95% confidence interval. The proportion of high-quality studies was 87.5% (14/16). The risk of GC was higher when HBV infection was present than when it was not (combined odds ratio 1.29, 95% confidence interval 1.16–1.44; I2 = 62.7%, p < 0.001). The results of subgroup analyses were consistent with the main results. In conclusion, this systematic review and meta-analysis identified a positive association between HBV infection and an increased risk of GC.

Open Access Original Article Issue
Hepatoprotective drugs for prevention of liver injury resulting from anti-tuberculosis treatment: A meta-analysis of cohort studies
Infectious Medicine 2022, 1 (3): 154-162
Published: 10 August 2022
Downloads:24
Background

The incidence of liver injury caused by anti-tuberculous (TB) drugs is very high. However, owing to a lack of sufficient evidence, preventive use of hepatoprotective drugs is not yet recommended. Therefore, we aimed to assess the protective effect of hepatoprotective drugs for anti-TB drug-induced liver injury.

Methods

We conducted a literature search in China Biology Medicine disc, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang, Chinese Scientific and Technological Journal, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Embase. We performed meta-analysis using R 4.0 and Review Manager 5.3 software.

Results

A total of 18 studies involving 3589 patients from 2 groups were included. Use of hepatoprotective drugs contributed to a lower incidence of liver injury as compared with conventional anti-TB treatment alone (relative risk [RR] = 0.39, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.28–0.53, p < 0.001). In subgroup analysis, significant protective effects were noted for mild liver injury (RR = 0.30, 95% CI 0.15–0.58), moderate (or severe) liver injury (RR = 0.35, 95% CI 0.19–0.65), and liver injury within 2–4 weeks (RR = 0.37, 95% CI 0.19–0.71). We also found a statistically significant difference in the incidence of drug withdrawal (RR = 0.58, 95% CI 0.34–0.97, p = 0.040).

Conclusions

Our results demonstrate that hepatoprotective drugs are effective in preventing liver injury in patients receiving anti-TB treatment, to some extent.

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