A Meta-Analysis of Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis B Virus-Associated Membranous Nephropathy

Hepatitis B virus-associated membranous nephropathy (HBV-MN) is the most common renal extra-hepatic manifestation in patients with chronic HBV infection. In September 2015, we searched the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CENTRAL databases, and the reference lists of retrieved articles, to identify relevant studies. Descriptions of antiviral drugs used to treat HBV-MN were included in our review. Two authors independently screened all relevant articles, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias. Nine hundred and fifty-four papers have been considered after electronic and manual searching, only five relevant studies were identified. Complete remission (OR = 26.87, 95% CI: 8.06 to 89.52), total remission (OR = 10.31, 95% CI: 3.59 to 29.63) of proteinuria and HBeAg clearance (OR = 20.91, 95% CI: 6.90 to 63.39) increased significantly after antiviral therapy. No significant differences were seen between interferon and nucleoside analog treatments. Our study found that antiviral therapy was an effective treatment in HBV-MN patients; interferon and nucleoside analogs were equally effective at causing proteinuria remission and HBeAg clearance.