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Objective To investigate the efficacy of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-interferon α (PEG-IFNα) in treating HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and explore the relationship between hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes and the effect of interferon α (IFNα) therapy.Methods A total of 199 CHB patients with known genotypes were given subcutaneous injection of PEG-IFNα-2a or PEG-IFNαt-2b once a week for 48 weeks,with another 24 weeks follow up.The seroconversion of HBeAg influenced by HBV genotypes were analyzed after discontinuation of treatment.Results In local area,genotype C was the major genotype[64.32％ (128/199)].Except serum ALT and AST level,the differences in gender,age,liver inflammation,degree of liver fibrosis,HBeAg level and HBV DNA level between genotype B and C were not statistically significant(all P ＞0.05).The seroconversion rate of HBeAg in patients with genotype B at early stage of therapy (3 months) was significantly higher than that of patients with genotype C [26.76％ (19/71) vs 10.16％ (13/128),x2 =9.330,P =0.002].While at the end of follow-up,seroconversion rate of HBeAg in patients with genotype B (followed up for 6 months) was higher than that of patients with genotype C [39.44％ (28/71) vs 30.47％ (39/128)],but the difference was not statistically significant(x2 =1.645,P =0.200).By univariate analysis based on log-rank test,the time of HBeAg seroconversion in patients with genotype B was much earlier than that of genotype C [(13.99 ± 0.67) months vs (15.47 ± 0.41)months],but the difference was not statistically significant (P =0.150).Conclusions The seroconversion rate of HBeAg in patients with genotype B treated with PEG-IFNα was significantly higher than that of genotype C in early stage of therapy (3 months),while similar at the end of therapy.
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Objective To evaluate HBeAg quantification in predicting the efficacy of pegylated interferon (PegIFN) α treatment for patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB).Methods A total of 216 HBeAg-positive CHB patients admitted in Ningbo No.2 Hospital during March 2009 and December 2011 were enrolled in the study.All patients were given subcutaneous injection of PegIFNα-2a or PegIFNα-2b weekly for 48 weeks and followed up for 24 weeks after discontinuation.Patients were divided into HBeAg seroconversion group and non-seroconversion group at the end of the follow-up.Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate HBeAg levels at baseline and 12,24 weeks of treatment in predicting HBeAg seroconversion.Results HBeAg seroconversion was observed in 31.48％ (68/216) patients at the end of follow-up,and there was no significant difference in seroconversion rate between patients treated with PegIFNα-2a and those with PegIFNα-2b (32.00％ vs.29.27％,P ＞ 0.05).There was significant difference in baseline HBeAg levels between patients with HBeAg seroconversion and those without HBeAg seroconversion (Z =-3.834,P ＜ 0.05).HBeAg seroconversion patients had a tendency of rapidly decreasing HBeAg level,but there was no significant difference in decreasing rate between seroconversion and non-seroconversion patients (F =3.321,P ＞ 0.05).ROC curves showed that HBeAg level at 24-week was the best indicator for predicting HBeAg seroconversion with area under curve of 0.861.Conclusion Serum HBeAg level at 24-week of treatment may be used to predict the HBeAg seroconversion in HBeAg-positive CHB patients treated with PegIFNα.
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Objective To explore the effect of hepatitis B virus(HBV) on the expression of high sensitive C-reaction protein(hs-CRP) and its clinical implication.Methods mRNA expression of hs-CRP in HepG2 and HepG2.2.15 cells was measured by RT-PCR,serum hs-CRP levels in patients with HBV infection and in healthy individuals were measured by biochemical analyzer Olympus5400,the expression of hs-CRP difference among patients with chronic hepatitis B,liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma were analyzed.Results Expression of hs-CRP mRNA was higher in HepG2.2.15 cells than in HepG2 cells,serum hs-CRP levels was much higher in HBV patients as compared to healthy individuals ( P＜0.05 ),hs-CRP was detected at higher levels in patients with liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma than those with chronic hepatitis B.Conclusion HBV can upregulated the expression of hs-CRP,which is associated with the disease progression.