Forty-eight weeks of combination therapy with interferon and nucleos(t)ide analogues for HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B

CAO Zhen-huan; LIU Ya-li; LU Jun-feng; MA Li-na; JIN Yi; HE Zhi-min; CHEN Xin-yue

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1007-8134.2016.02.004

Abstract：Objective To compare the therapeutic efficacy among nucleos(t)ide anologues (NAs) monotherapy, interferon (IFN) monotherapy and combination therapy with NAs and IFN in patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB).Methods A total of 321 HBeAg-positive CHB patients receiving 48-week antiviral treatment in our hospital from January 2005 to June 2011 were included in the study. Of them, 162 patients were treated with NAs monotherapy (NAs group), 35 with IFN monotherapy (IFN group), and 124 with the combination of NAs and IFN (combination group). HBV DNA undetectable (<500 copies/ml) rates, HBeAg seroconversion rates, HBsAg clearance rates and ALT levels were compared among the 3 groups.Results At 48 weeks of treatment, HBV DNA undetectable rates were 85.5% in combination group, 50.6% in NAs group and 20.0% in IFN group, and the differences among them were significant (P<0.05); HBeAg seroconversion rate in combination group was 41.1%, higher than that in NAs group (15.4%) and that in IFN group (25.7%), and the difference between combination group and NAs group was significant (P<0.05), but the differences between combination group and IFN group and between NAs group and IFN group were not significant (P>0.05); HBsAg clearance rates were 7.3% in combination group, 2.9% in IFN group and 0.0% in NAs group; the variation of the decrease in ALT level was the greatest in NAs group, followed by that in combination group.Conclusions The combination therapy with IFN and NAs may improve the antiviral efficacy in HBeAg-positive CHB patients. It is one of the promising treatment strategies.