Background and aim: The relationship between exposure to hepatitis B virus (HBV) and atherosclerosis-associated disease morbidity has not been clearly elucidated. We performed a meta-analysis to explore whether exposure to HBV is a risk factor for atherosclerosis-associated diseases.
Methods: We searched the PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Scopus databases for related studies. We then chose the eligible studies for meta-analysis and assessed quality assessment and risk of bias.
Results: The meta-analysis of the included studies showed that exposure to HBV tends to increase atherosclerosis-associated disease morbidity, but this increase was not statistically significant.
Conclusions: Hepatitis B virus may not be a risk factor for atherosclerosis-associated diseases, but further studies that employ more sensitive clinical parameters are needed to verify this result.
Keywords: atherosclerosis; hepatitis B virus; meta-analysis.