LAUSR

For hepatitis B virus (HBV) e-antigen (HBeAg)-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, HBeAg seroconversion is a prerequisite for a definite course of antiviral treatment. Unfortunately, for both entecavir (ETV) and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), HBeAg clearance or seroconversion only occurs in a minority of patients even after multiple years of antiviral therapy. The gut microbiota appears to play a critical role in age-related immune clearance of HBV. Several studies have indicated that CHB patients with liver cirrhosis have different microbiota compared to healthy people. The “leakage hypothesis” has linked gut microbiota to the onset and progression of liver diseases. Thus, we reported on a case-controlled, open-label pilot trial of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for CHB patients. Methods and Results