To date, it remains unclear if severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) co-infection exacerbates liver injury in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. In this study, we present a retrospective study of 133 hospitalized confirmed mild coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, including 116 patients with COVID-19 with negative serum hepatitis B antigen and 17 HBV inactive carriers with COVID-19. We found that there were no significant differences for the discharge rate or duration of hospitalization between the two groups. However, inactive HBV carriers with SARS-CoV-2 co-infection are at a higher risk of abnormal liver function tests. The enhanced liver injury induced by SARS-CoV-2 and HBV co-infection was identified as the hepatocyte type rather than the cholangiocyte type. Moreover, the inflammatory response, including abnormal lactate dehydrogenase, D-dimer and interleukin-6 production, may contribute to this injury following SARS-CoV-2 co-infection. Collectively, SARS-CoV-2 and HBV co-infection exacerbates liver function of the patients with COVID-19.

迄今为止，尚不清楚严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2 (SARS-CoV-2) 合并感染是否会加剧慢性乙型肝炎病毒 (HBV) 感染患者的肝损伤。在这项研究中，我们对 133 例住院确诊的 2019 年新型冠状病毒病（COVID-19）轻度病例进行了回顾性研究，其中包括 116 例血清乙型肝炎抗原阴性的 COVID-19 患者和 17 例患有 COVID-19 的 HBV 非活动携带者。我们发现两组之间的出院率或住院时间没有显着差异。然而，合并感染 SARS-CoV-2 的非活动性 HBV 携带者肝功能检查异常的风险较高。SARS-CoV-2和HBV共同感染引起的增强性肝损伤被确定为肝细胞型而非胆管细胞型。此外，炎症反应，包括异常的乳酸脱氢酶、D-二聚体和白细胞介素 6 的产生，可能会导致 SARS-CoV-2 合并感染后的这种损伤。总的来说，SARS-CoV-2 和 HBV 共同感染会加剧 COVID-19 患者的肝功能。