Hepatitis B vaccines achieve antibody production in patients with chronic renal failure, but we do not know if the vaccines are protective

Schroth RJ, Hitchon CA, Uhanova J, Noreddin AM, Taback SP, Moffatt M, Zacharias JM

Published Online:

January 21, 2009

Patients with chronic renal failure are at increased risk of hepatitis B virus infections. This review was undertaken to determine the beneficial and harmful effects of vaccination against hepatitis B and of a reinforced recombinant vaccination series. None of the trials had high methodological quality. Plasma vaccine was significantly more effective than placebo in achieving hepatitis B antibodies. Yet no statistically significant difference was found between the use of plasma vaccine or placebo in preventing hepatitis B virus infections. No trials comparing recombinant vaccine with placebo were identified. There was no significant difference between recombinant and plasma vaccines or between a reinforced vaccination series and routine vaccinations of three inoculations using recombinant vaccine regarding achieving hepatitis B antibodies.

Abstract (click to read)

Background:

Chronic renal failure patients are at particular risk of hepatitis B virus infection. Early studies have demonstrated that renal failure patients benefit from vaccination; however, not all studies have consistently shown benefit.

Objectives:

To determine the beneficial and harmful effects of hepatitis B vaccine and of a reinforced vaccination series in chronic renal failure patients.

Search strategy:

We searched The Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group Controlled Trials Register, The Cochrane Renal Group Controlled Trials Register, The Cochrane Controlled Trials Register on The Cochrane Library (Issue 1, 2002), PubMed/MEDLINE (1966 to July 2003), EMBASE (1985 to November 2003), Current Clinical Practice Guidelines (Canadian Immunization Guide and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Surveillance Manual), and Science Citation Index as well as journals, published abstracts, and reference lists of articles.

Selection criteria:

Randomised clinical trials comparing plasma vaccine with placebo, recombinant vaccine with placebo, recombinant vaccine with plasma vaccine, and a reinforced vaccination series (ie, more than three inoculations) with three inoculations of vaccine in chronic renal failure patients.

Data collection and analysis:

Primary outcome measures included incidence of patients developing hepatitis B virus antibodies and infections while secondary outcomes included adverse events, liver-related morbidity, and mortality. Random effects models were used and reported relative risks and 95% confidence intervals (RR and 95% CI).

Main results:

We included seven randomised clinical trials. None of them had high quality. Plasma vaccine was significantly more effective than placebo in achieving hepatitis B antibodies (RR 23.0, 95% CI 14.39 to 36.76, 3 trials). We found no statistically significant difference between plasma vaccine or placebo regarding hepatitis B virus infections (RR 0.50, 95% CI 0.20 to 1.24). We found no statistically significant differences between recombinant vaccine and plasma vaccine in achieving hepatitis B antibodies (RR 0.65, 95% CI 0.28 to 1.53, 2 trials). Heterogeneity was significant and appeared to be attributable to the dose of vaccine. Two trials examined a reinforced recombinant vaccine strategy, which was not statistically more effective than three inoculations of recombinant vaccine regarding development of hepatitis B antibodies (RR 1.36, 95% CI 0.85 to 2.16).

Authors' conclusions:

Plasma derived vaccines are more effective than placebo in achieving hepatitis B antibodies, while no statistically significant difference was found between recombinant and plasma vaccines. No statistically significant difference of effectiveness was observed between a reinforced vaccination series versus routine vaccinations of three inoculations of recombinant vaccine.

This record should be cited as:

Schroth RJ, Hitchon CA, Uhanova J, Noreddin AM, Taback SP, Moffatt M, Zacharias JM. Hepatitis B vaccination for patients with chronic renal failure. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2004, Issue 3. Art. No.: CD003775. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD003775.pub2

Assessed as up to date:

May 24, 2004

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Primary Review Group:

Hepato-Biliary Group

Health topics:

Gastroenterology > Liver diseases > Hepatitis B

Infectious disease > Liver diseases > Hepatitis B

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Independent high-quality evidence for health care decision making

Hepatitis B vaccines achieve antibody production in patients with chronic renal failure, but we do not know if the vaccines are protective

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