Abstract:Objective To study clinicopathological features and therapeutic regimen of hepatitis B virus associated glomerulonephritis (HBV-GN) with negative serological markers, and assess the efficacy and safety of Tacrolimus combined hormone therapy. Methods A retrospective study was carried out in the HBV-GN patients diagnosed by renal biopsy in our hospital from January 2009 to September 2012. Twenty patients of HBV-GN with serologically negative markers were selected according to HBV serological test, their clinical and pathological features were analyzed. Seventeen patients with nephrotic syndrome (MN) were divided into group A (n = 9) and group B (n = 8). The group B was treated by Lamivudine combined with Prednisone and the group A was treated with Tacrolimus combined with Prednisone. The levels of 24-h urinary protein, serum albumin (ALB), liver and kidney functions, HBV serological indexes and adverse reactions were observed before and after treatment. The therapeutic effect was compared between both groups. Results In the 20 HBV-GN patients with negative serological markers, male to female ratio was 1.86 : 1.00. There were 17 cases of nephritic syndrome (85%) and 3 cases of chronic nephritis syndrome (15%). Their serum HBsAg, HBeAg, HBsAb, HBeAb, HBcAb and HBV-DNA were negative. HBV-GN pathological features: light microscope showed untypical membranous nephropathy (100%) in all the cases; positive detection rates of HBsAg, HBcAg and HBsAg+HBcAg in renal tissues were 90%, 40% and 30% respectively, the immunofluorescence showed various immune-complexes deposited in many spots with high intensity; and the electron microscopy showed electron dense depositions were located in many spots. The total effective rate was 100% in the group B, which was significantly higher than 12.5% in the group A (P < 0.05). The level of ALB in the group B was significantly higher than that in the group A (P < 0.05), while the level of 24-h urinary protein in the group B were significantly lower than that in the group A (P < 0.05). There was no obvious adverse reaction in either group. Conclusions The main characteristics of serologically-negative HBV-GN were male in sex and MN, especially untypical MN in pathology. To avoid missed diagnosis of HBV-GN, for patients with negative serological markers of hepatitis B virus, especially those with the pathology of untypical membranous nephropathy, hepatitis B antigens should be regularly detected in renal biopsy. Tacrolimus combined with Prednisone is one of the effective and safe methods to treat serologically-negative HBV-GN.