Association between serum level of interleukin-17 and HBsAg clearance in patients with HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B / 临床肝胆病杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo investigate the association between HBsAg clearance and serum level of interleukin-17 (IL-17) in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients treated by pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN). MethodsA total of 13 HBeAg-negative CHB patients who visited Beijing YouAn Hospital from January 2012 to January 2015 were enrolled. After the 24-week treatment with PEG-IFN, 6 achieved HBsAg clearance (R group) and 7 did not achieve HBsAg clearance (NR group). The Luminex technology was used to measure the serum level of IL-17 at baseline and weeks 12 and 24 of treatment. Ten healthy controls and 6 patients with acute hepatitis B (AHB) were enrolled and serum level of IL-17 was measured. An analysis of variance was used for comparison of continuous data between multiple groups, and the SNK-q test was used for further pairwise comparison; the t-test was used for comparison of continuous data between any two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. ResultsThe AHB group had the highest serum level of IL-17 at baseline, followed by the CHB group and healthy control group, and the serum level of IL-17 at baseline showed significant differences between the three groups (P＜0.05). After the PEG-IFN treatment for 24 weeks, HBeAg-negative CHB patients showed a significant reduction in serum level of IL-17 (P=0.044). R group had a significantly higher serum level of IL-17 than NR group and showed a significant reduction in the serum level of IL-17 after PEG-IFN treatment, while NR group showed no significant increase or reduction in the serum level of IL-17. ConclusionIn the PEG-IFN treatment for HBeAg-negative CHB patients, a high serum level of IL-17 at baseline and a significant reduction in serum level of IL-17 helps with HBsAg clearance.