Chronic hepatitis B virus infection strongly linked to pregnancy-related anemia: Study

A new study published in the journal of Nature Scientific Reports found that anemia was almost three times as common in women with a persistent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

Around 50% of pregnancies worldwide are affected by anemia in pregnancy, which is defined as a hemoglobin (Hb) content in pregnant women that is less than 11 g/dl. Its correlation with maternal illness, death, and unfavorable fetal outcomes highlights its position as a major global public health issue, with a disproportionately high prevalence in impoverished countries.

Pregnancy-related anemia has a complex etiology, with iron deficiency serving as a major contributing component. Other factors include thalassemia, malnourishment, and infectious illnesses like malaria or hookworm infection. This study aimed to find possible risk factors for anemia during pregnancy in this observational study. Renliang Huang and colleagues accomplished this by performing retrospective cohort research and a cross-sectional analysis, with the main outcome variable being anemia during pregnancy.

Nearly, 43,201 pregnant women who were admitted to the Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center between January 2017 and December 2020 had their clinical data reviewed as part of a cross-sectional study. There were notable variations between the two groups when comparing pregnant women with and without anemia in terms of age, hypothyroidism, gestational diabetes, hyperthyroidism, syphilis infection, chronic hepatitis B virus infection, and human immunodeficiency virus infection.

The Declaration of Helsinki's guiding principles were followed in the conduct of this investigation. The Institutional Review Board relaxed the informed consent requirement since the data used in this study was completely anonymized and the individuals were at very little risk.

This retrospective cohort included 129 control patients and 86 instances of chronic hepatitis B virus infection who were recruited from the Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center between November 2021 and January 2023.

The findings of this examination showed a consistent link between chronic hepatitis B virus infection and pregnancy-related anemia, with the latter condition most commonly appearing in the third trimester. Subsequent investigation revealed unique hematological changes, including decreased corpuscular hemoglobin levels and erythrocyte size, among patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

Overall, based on thorough cross-sectional and retrospective cohort studies, this study outlines a clear correlation between persistent HBV infection and an increased risk of anemia during pregnancy.

Reference:

Huang, R., Lu, Z., Li, X., Zhou, D., Xu, J., Lin, D., Fu, Y., Liang, Y., Li, X., Petersen, F., Zhou, Q., & Yu, X. (2025). Positive association between chronic hepatitis B virus infection and anemia in pregnancy in Southern China. Scientific Reports, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84927-7