Evaluation of Bone Mineral Density and Bone Turnover Markers in Patients with non-Cirrhotic Chronic Hepatitis B

Objective: To evaluate the bone mineral density (BMD) and the biochemical markers of bone turnover in non-cirrhotic chronic hepatitis B patients. Material and Methods: We compared 18-65 years old non-cirrhotic chronic hepatitis B patients and healthy controls for BMD and biochemical markers of bone turnover. BMD was measured at the lumbar spine and the left hip using DXA. Results: There were 31 hepatitis B patients (19 males, 12 females) and 72 healthy controls (56 males, 16 females) in the study. Their mean age was 37.4 +/- 10.0 years in the study group and 38.5 +/- 7.1 years in the controls. There were no differences between the two groups for the mean BMD levels and T scores. However, left hip BMD and T scores were significantly lower in male patients with chronic hepatitis B infection when compared to males in the control group. Serum calcium, phosphate, osteocalcine, intact parathyroid hormone, deoxypyridinoline and 25-hydroxycholecalciferol levels did not differ between the groups. Conclusion: In our study, left hip BMD and T scores were found to be significantly lower in the male patients with chronic hepatitis B infection when compared to males in the control group, however a significant difference was not detected when all cases were compared with the control group. Therefore, we suppose that further studies on a larger population are needed in this issue.