The Role of Metabolic Factors and Steatosis in Treatment-Naïve Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B and Normal Alanine Aminotransferase

Introduction We aimed to elucidate the impact of metabolic syndrome (MS) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) on treatment-naïve patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Methods We analyzed the clinical characteristics of a cross-sectional cohort of treatment-naïve patients with CHB and ALT in the upper limit of normal (ULN) from October 2018 to July 2021. ALT ≤ 0.5 ULN was stratified as low-normal ALT (LNALT) and 0.5 ULN < ALT ≤ ULN as high-normal ALT (HNALT). Transient elastography (TE) was used to evaluate liver steatosis and fibrosis. Results Among 733 patients with CHB enrolled, 23.1% of them had MS, 37.2% of them had NAFLD, and 5.9% of them had significant fibrosis. The proportions of patients with MS, steatosis, and significant fibrosis in the HNALT group were higher than those in the LNALT group (31.4% vs. 14.1%, p < 0.001; 48.7% vs. 25.2%, p < 0.001; and 8.0% vs. 3.6%, p = 0.013, respectively). Multiple linear regression showed that steatosis (beta = 0.098, p = 0.001) and MS (beta = 0.092, p = 0.002) were independently related to ALT levels in the normal range. Multivariate logistic regression showed that age (OR 1.049, 95% CI 1.012–1.087, p = 0.010), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (OR 1.059, 95% CI 1.005–1.115, p = 0.030), and severe steatosis (OR 2.559, 95% CI 1.212–5.403, p = 0.014) were independently associated with significant fibrosis. When analyzed in the subgroup of CHB with NAFLD, age (OR 1.060, 95% CI 1.006–1.117, p = 0.029) and severe steatosis (OR 2.962, 95% CI 1.126–7.792, p = 0.028) were still statistically significant. Conclusion The accumulation of MS components exacerbated hepatic steatosis. Severe NAFLD was independently associated with significant fibrosis. This emphasizes the importance of screening for MS and NAFLD in patients with CHB and normal ALT, where a more active intervention may apply.