ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of different optimal therapy strategies for hepatits B e antigen (HBeAg) positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with suboptimal response to peginterferon-α-2a (peg-IFN-α-2a) at 24 weeks.Methods This open-label,single-center and prospective clinical observational study was conducted in Department of Infectious Diseases at Shanghai Changhai Hospital between January 2009 and December 2011.The cases of HBeAg-positive CHB with suboptimal response to peg-IFN-α-2a at week 24 were enrolled.Based on virological markers and patient preference,patients were treated with either peg-IFN-α-2a add-on adefovir dipivoxil (ADV) or switch-to telbivudine (LdT).Hepatitis B virus (HBV) virological and serological data were collected at week 12,24 and 48 after the initiation of optimal therapy.Adverse reactions were also monitored.Therapeutic efficacy was compared between two groups of patients before and after treatment by x2 test.Kruskall Wallis test and Mann-Whitney test were used for analysis of continuous variables.Results Among 193 HBeAg positive CHB patients treated with interferon,67 had suboptimal response and were enrolled.Forty five cases received peg IFN-α-2a add-on ADV treatment and 22 cases received switch-to LdT treatment.After 48 weeks of optimized therapy,the total tBeAg seroconversion rate was 25.3 ％.The rates of HBeAg loss,HBV DNA negative and alanine aminotransferase normalization were 26.8％,73.1％ and 83.5％,respectively.The peg-IFN-α-2a switch-to LdT strategy had better HBV DNA inhibition efficiency compared with the peg-IFN-α-2a add-on ADV strategy at week 12,24 and 48 (P=0.00,0.00 and 0.01,respectively).However,there was no significant difference of HBV DNA negative rate between two groups at week 48 (x2 =0.01,P=0.89).The obviously intolerable adverse reaction was not reported in two optimized strategy groups.Conclusions The 48-week optimized treatment for HBeAg positive CHB with suboptimal response to peg-IFN-α-2a at week 24 could achieve a higher HBeAg seroconversion rate.The switch-to LdT strategy may have better HBV DNA inhibition efficiency.Both strategies show satisfactory safety and tolerance.
ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of the imbalance between regulatory T cells (Treg) and T helper 17 cells (Th17) in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.MethodsThe serum concentration of Treg/Th17 differentiation-related cytokines in 34 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB),20 patients with HBV related acute on chronic liver failure (ACHBLF),and 20 healthy controls (NC) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and proportion of peripheral Th17 and Treg cells were analyzed by flow cytometry.Numeration data was analyzed by Fisher's exact propability method and measurement data was tested by one-factor analysis of variance or Turkey multiple comparison.Results The levels of Th17 differentiation-related cytokines,II-1β (3.97±2.85) pg/mL,IL-6 (12.75±-8.87) pg/mL,and IL-21 (360.0±335.7) pg/ mL in patients with ACHBLF were significantly increased than those in NC,which were (1.87 ±0.94) pg/mL(q=4.559,P＜0.01),(5.28±0.72) pg/mL(q=7.309,P＜0.01) and (46.68±20.17) pg/mL(q=6.946,P＜0.01 ),respectively.The proportion of Th17 increased markedly in patients with ACHBLF than that in NC(q=3.972,P＜0.05).However,compared to NC and patients with ACHBLF,the Treg differentiation-related cytokine,TGF-β,in patients with CHB,increased significantly (q=4.536 and 5.323,respectively; both P＜0.01).And the population of Treg also increased markedly in CHB patients.The level of IL-17A which was the characteristic effector cytokine of Th17 was the highest in patients with ACHBLF.The peripheral Th17 cell proportion was positively correlated with the level of serum total bilirubin in patients with ACHBLF (γ=0.74,P＜0.01).Conclusions Th17 and Treg imbalance including cytokine profiles and cell numbers exists in patients with chronic HBV infection.The Th17 are active in patients with ACHBLF and Treg are active in patients with CHB.
ABSTRACT
The activity of interleukin-2(IL-2)and the expression of interleukin-2 receptors in the lymphocytes of peripheral blood were investigated in 15 cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and in normal subjects who served as control.It was found that the IL-2 activity and IL-2R expression were significantly lower in the patients than in the normal control.and they decreased continously when the patients were receiving radiotherapy.