It is debated whether patients with celiac disease (CD) have non-protective antibody responses to HBV vaccination more frequently than non-affected subjects. To perform a literature review and meta-analysis on protective response to HBV vaccination in CD patients. RCTs and observational controlled studies were eligible. Outcome of interest was an anti-HBs (HBsAb) titer ≥ 10 IU/L after last vaccine dose. Comparative index was rate ratio (RR). Heterogeneity between studies was addressed and funnel plots were analyzed. Meta-regression models were applied to investigate effect size due to study-specific variables. Twelve retrospective studies on a total of 1,447 participants and 4 prospective studies on 184 subjects were selected. The RR was 0.732 (95% C.I.: 0.664-0.808) and 0.777 (95% C.I.: 0.629-0.960) in the prospective and retrospective studies, respectively. The I(2), indicating heterogeneity, was 51.1% in retrospective, 39.8% in prospective studies. Non-protective antibody responses occurred more frequently in patients than controls. Due to limitations in the available studies, additional trials to evaluate post-vaccination HBsAb titer in CD patients are needed.
Keywords: HBsAb; celiac disease; hepatitis B; immune response; meta-analysis; review; vaccination.