Abstract
The antiviral efficacy of interferon in the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis B ( CHB) is influenced by the virus itself and the host factors. The host cellular immunity status is undoubtedly one of the most important
factors of the interferon response. We analyzed baseline cellular immune factors before interferon treatment in order to understand the impact of immune status on virological response. Nineteen patients, including 14 males and 5 females with hepatitis B virus e antigen ( HBeAg) positive CHB, received peg-interferon α2a 180 μg per week for 48 weeks and follow-up for 24 weeks. All had liver biopsies at baseline and at the end of follow-up( EOF) . Hepatitis B virus ( HBV) viral load, liver functions were detected before and every two months after antiviral therapy. Cellular immunity was evaluated by detecting CD3 + , CD4 + , CD8 + , CD4 + /CD8 + , natural killer ( NK) cell, CD3 + / CD25 + , CD8 + /CD28 + , lymphocyte transformation test ( LTT) , tumor necrosis factor ( TNF) and IFN-γ, using flow cytometry. The virological response was defined as a HBV viral load below 1 ×105 copies /ml at end of treatment ( EOT) and EOF. The results showed that 15 patients had an EOT virological response, while 7 patients had an EOF virological response. CD8 + /CD28 + was significantly higher in patients with an EOT virological response than that in non-responders ( P =0. 019) , while LTT was significantly higher in patients with an EOF virological response ( P = 0. 003) . CD4 + and CD3 + /CD25 + were significantly higher in patients with HBeAg serum conversion ( P = 0. 038 and 0.035) . Six patients had an EOF istological response( P =0. 003 5) . Our data suggest that the cellular immune status of the host may be a good predictive indicator for the esponse of IFN therapy in CHB patients.
Key words
Hepatitis B /
Cellular immunity /
Peg-interferon
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GONG Qi-Ming1 ；JIANG Wei-Jie2 ；JIN Gen-Di1 ；KONG Xiao-Fei1 ；YU De-Min1；LING Yun1；LU Zhi-Meng1 ；ZHANG Xin-Xin1.
A preliminary report on the influence of baseline cellular immunity to
the therapeutic responses of peg-interferon α2a in HBeAg positive
chronic hepatitis B patients[J]. Journal of Microbes and Infections. 2009, 4(3): 146-151
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