Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to investigate changes of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) galectin-3 and galectin-9 in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and concomitant metabolism-related fatty liver disease(MAFLD). Methods 138 CHB patients with MAFLD and 95 CHB patients were admitted to Affiliated Hospital, Hebei University between January 2021 and February 2024, and PBMCs were isolated and galectin-3 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) and galectin-9 mRNA was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. The influencing factors were determined by multivariate unconditional Logistic regression analysis, and the diagnostic performance of galectin-3 mRNA and galectin-9 mRNA for CHB with MAFLD was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC). Results Galectin-3 mRNA and galectin-9 mRNA in PBMCs in CHB and MAFLD group were (1.6±0.3) and (1.4±0.2), both significantly higher than in CHB group [(1.3±0.1) and (1.2±0.1), respectively, P＜0.05]; Logistic analysis showed that body mass index, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia, HOMA-IR, galectin-3 mRNA and galectin-9 mRNA loads were all the independent risk factors for CHB patients having MAFLD (P<0.05); the area under the curve (AUC) for PBMC galectin-3 mRNA and galectin-9 mRNA combination in predicting CHB with MAFLD was 0.888, much greater than 0.785 by galectin-3 mRNA or 0.791 by galectin-9 mRNA alone (P＜0.05). Conclusion PBMC galectin-3 mRNA and galectin-9 mRNA loads are abnormally increased in patients with CHB and concomitant MAFLD, and the combination of the two parameters might help predict the existence of MAFLD in patients with CHB.

Key words: Hepatitis B, Metabolism-related fatty liver disease, Galectin-3, Galectin-9, Diagnosis