Objective To assess the efficacy between Peginterferon α-2a and common Interferon in HBeAg positive chronic hepatitis B. Methods MEDLINE, EBSCO, PubMed, CNKI, WangFang were searched from the beginning to May 2009, and the references of eligible studies were manually screened. Randomized controlled trials comparing Peginterferon-alpha2a with common interferon in HBeAg positive chronic hepatitis B were eligible for inclusion. Jadad score method was adopted to evaluate the methodological quality of included studies. Meta analysis was conducted by RevMan 5.0 software supplied by the Cochrane Collaboration. Subgroup analyses were used in treatment and observation course. Results Six randomized controlled trials were included (n=688). The treatment duration of 48 weeks and 24 weeks were reported in four and two studies, respectively. We carried out subgroup analysis according to treatment. Meta-analysis showed that Peginterferon-alpha2a (180 ug/d, 48 W) could significantly clear HBeAg, clear HBVDNA, normalize ALT and HBeAg seroconversion compared with common Interferon (Plt;0.05). Peginterferon-alpha2a (180 ug/d, 24 W) could effectively clear HBV DNA [P=0.04, RR=1.44, 95%CI (1.01, 2.05)], but was not effective in loss of HBeAg, HBeAg seroconversion and ALT normalization (Pgt;0.05). Conclusion The efficacy of 48 weeks treatment with Peginterferon α-2a is better than common Interferon. The efficacy of 24 weeks treatment with Peginterferon α-2a is only better in HBV-DNA negative rate than common Interferon. However, because the methodological quality of included studies is not high, this conclusion should be carefully considered in clinical use.
Objective To explore the relationship between the level of serum ferritin (SF) and liver damage in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Methods The concentration of serum ferritin of 98 patients with CHB from July to October 2014 was measured, and then correlation analysis was performed to analyze the correlation between SF and such indexes as serum tumor marker α-fetoprotein, biochemical markers [alanine amino transferase (ALT), aspartate amino transferase (AST), total protein (TP), albumin and total bilirubin (TBIL)], and hepatitis B serum markers (hepatitis B surface antigen, hepatitis B surface antibody, hepatitis B e antigen, hepatitis B e antibody, and hepatitis B core antigen). Serum hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV-DNA) viral load was also tested, and then the discrepancy of SF levels in the high and low viral load groups was analyzed. Results The average concentration of the abnormally elevated SF was (878.69±837.98) ng/mL. The SF mean difference between low-load HBV-DNA and high-load HBV-DNA was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Serum ferritin levels were independently and positively correlated with ALT, AST, and TBIL (P < 0.01) and inversely correlated with TP and albumin (P < 0.01). Conclusion The rise of SF is associated with liver damage, which can reflect the state of inflammation of patients with CHB.
Objective To assess the efficacy of lamivudine in patients with HBeAg positive chronic hepatitis B.Methods MEDLINE, SCI, Current Content Connect, The Cochrane Library, and Chinese Biomedical Database were searched from the beginning to September 2005, and the references of eligible studies were manually screened. R.andomized controlled trials comparing lamivudine with non-antiviral interventions （ placebo, no treatment and standard care ） in patients with chronic hepatitis B were eligible for inclusion. Two investigators independently assessed the quality and extracted the data. Heterogeneity was examined by Chi-square test. Fixed and random effect meta-analysis were used to pool the data. Subgroup analyses were used in treatment course. Results Eleven R.CTs were included （ n = 1 237 ）. All reported the effect of lamivudine （100 mg/d） , and one of them included lamivudine （25 mg/d）. The treatment duration of 52 weeks and less than 26 weeks were reported in eight and three RCTs, respectively. Six RCTs adequately applied randomization, while other five RCTs were not reported in detail. Four RCTs adequately enforced allocation concealment, five RCTs enforced blinding bitterly. The others were not reported in detail. It was found by meta-analysis that, compared with the control, lamivudine （100 mg/d, 52 W） could significantly clear HBeAg [42.6% vs. 13% , RR 3.20, 95% CI （2.33, 4. 38）] and clearHBVDNA [71.78% vs. 20, 36%, RR3.42, 95%CI （2.80,4.19）], normalize ALT [65% vs. 34.9%, RR1.91, 95%CI （1.64,2.21）], achieve HBeAgseroconversion [16.1% vs. 7.29% , RR2.12, 95%CI （1.24,3.80） ] and histology response [57. 9% vs. 26.2%, RR 2. 17, 95% CI （ 1.67,2.81 ） ] ; Lanfivudine （100 mg/ d, 12 W） could effectively clear HBV DNA [ 50.7% vs 3.92% , RR 8.68, 95% CI （1.72,43.74 ） ] , but was not effective in loss of HBeAg, HBeAg seroconversion and normalization of ALT, Lamivudine （25 mg/d） could effectively clear HBV DNA [97.7% vs. 22.2% , RR 4.41, 95% CI （2.86,6.79） ] and improve histology response [59.3% vs. 30% , RR1.98, 95% CI （1.31,2.99 ） ], but was not effective in HBeAg seroconversion. Conclusions Lamivudine （100 mg/ d） is effective in clearing HBV DNA and HBeAg, normalizing ALT and achieving HBeAg seroconversion.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the diagnostic value of FibroScan for the staging of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B. MethodsWe searched the PubMed, EMbase, Web of Knowledge, CBM, WanFang Data and CNKI databases for studies investigated the diagnostic value of FibroScan for hepatic fibrosis B from Jan. 1st, 2003 to Aug. 31st, 2013. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the exclusion and inclusion criteria, extracted data and assessed methodological quality of included studies. Then, Stata 13.0 software was used to analyze the data. ResultsA total of 15 studies involving 2 588 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that:the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic odds ratio and the AUC of SROC were 0.77 (95%CI 0.69 to 0.83), 0.84 (95%CI 0.70 to 0.87), 3.8 (95%CI 2.6 to 5.6), 0.29 (95%CI 0.22 to 0.38), 13 (95%CI 8 to 21), 0.82 (95%CI 0.82 to 0.88) for hepatic fibrosis; and were 0.81 (95%CI 0.73 to 0.87), 0.89 (95%CI 0.86 to 0.92), 7.5 (95%CI 5.3 to 10.3), 0.21 (95%CI 0.14 to 0.31), 36 (95%CI 20 to 65), 0.93 (95%CI 0.90 to 0.95) for early hepatic cirrhosis, respectively. ConclusionThe current evidence suggests that FibroScan is of good accuracy in the diagnosis of early hepatic fibrosis but not for hepatic cirrhosis in patient with chronic hepatitis B.
This study aims to clarify host factors of IFN treatment in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients by screening the differentially expressed genes of IFN pathway CHB patients with different response to interferon (IFN) therapy. Three cases were randomly selected in IFN-responding CHB patients (Rs), non-responding CHB patients (NRs) and healthy participants, respectively. The human type I IFN response RT2 profiler PCR array was used to detect the expression levels of IFN-related genes in peripheral blood monocytes (PBMCs) from healthy participants and CHB patients before and after Peg-IFN-α 2a treatment. The results showed that more differentially expressed genes appeared in Rs group than NRs group after IFN treatment. Comparing with healthy participants, IFNG, IL7R, IRF1, and IRF8 were downregulated in both Rs and NRs group before IFN treatment; CXCL10, IFIT1, and IFITM1 were upregulated in the Rs; IL13RA1 and IFI35 were upregulated in the NRs, while IFRD2, IL11RA, IL4R, IRF3, IRF4, PYHIN1, and ADAR were downregulated. The expression of IL15, IFI35 and IFI44 was downregulated by 4.09 (t = 10.58, P < 0.001), 5.59 (t = 3.37, P = 0.028) and 10.83 (t = 2.8, P = 0.049) fold in the Rs group compared with the NRs group, respectively. In conclusion, IFN-response-related gene array is able to evaluate IFN treatment response by detecting IFN-related genes levels in PBMC. High expression of CXCL10, IFIT1 and IFITM1 before treatment may suggest satisfied IFN efficacy, while high expression of IL13RA1, IL15, IFI35 and IFI44 molecules and low expression of IFRD2, IL11RA, IL4R, IRF3, IRF4, PYHIN1 and ADAR molecules may be associated with poor IFN efficacy.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy of peginterferon alpha (PEG-IFNα) initially combined with lamivudine (LAM) or adefovir (ADV) in treatment of HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. MethodsWe electronically searched databases including The Cochrane Library (Issue 11, 2014), PubMed, CBM, CNKI, VIP, and WanFang Data from inception to December 2014, to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about PEG-IFNα initially combined with LAM or ADV for HBeAg-positive CHB. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.2 software. ResultsA total of 11 RCTs involving 2031 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that: After 48 weeks of treatment, the HBsAg seroconversion rate of the PEG-IFNα plus ADV group was significantly higher than that of the PEG-IFNα monotherapy group (8.6% vs. 0%, OR=7.73, 95%CI 1.53 to 39.05, P=0.01) or the ADV monotherapy group (8.5% vs. 0%, OR=7.75, 95%CI 1.07 to 56.23, P=0.04); and the HBsAg seroclearance rate in the combination therapy group was significantly higher than that of the ADV monotherapy group (10.5% vs. 1.2%, OR=5.56, 95%CI to 2.14 to 14.47, P=0.0004). After 52 weeks of treatment, the HBsAg seroconversion rate of the PEG-IFNα plus LAM group was significantly higher than that of the PEG-IFNα monotherapy group (11.6% vs. 5.6%, OR=2.21, 95%CI 1.04 to 4.72, P=0.04). After 26 weeks of follow-up, no significant differences were found between the combination therapy group and the PEG-IFNα monotherapy group in HBsAg seroclearance rate and HBsAg seroconversion rate (all P values >0.05). ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that, compared with PEG-IFNα, LAM, or ADV monotherapy, PEG-IFNα plus LAM or ADV could improve the HBsAg seroclearance or seroconversion rate after 48-52 weeks of treatment for HBeAg-positive CHB, but this effect is still limited. Due to the limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the efficacy and safety of interferon-alpha (IFN-α) combined with enticavir (ETV) for treatment-naïve chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, so as to provide references for clinical practice. MethodsWe electronically searched databases including PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library (Issue 7, 2015), Web of Science, WanFang Data, CNKI, CBM and VIP from inception to July 20th, 2015, to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about IFN-α combined with ETV versus IFN-α or ETV monotherapy for treatment-naïve CHB patients. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software. ResultsA total of 10 RCTs involving 964 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that:For HBV-DNA loss rate, HBeAg loss rate and HBeAg seroconversion rate, there were no significant differences between the combination therapy group and the monotherapy group at 12-week of treatment, but the combination therapy group was significantly superior to the monotherapy group at 24-and 48-week of treatment except that there was no significant difference between the combination therapy group and the IFN-α monotherapy group in HBeAg seroconversion at 48-week of treatment. For rate of ALT normalization, the combination therapy group was superior to the IFN-α monotherapy group at 12-and 24-week of treatment, but there were no significant differences between the combination therapy group and the ETV monotherapy group at 12-, 24-, and 48-week of treatment. For safety, no pooled analysis was performed because different outcomes were reported by included studies. ConclusionIFN-α combined with ETV is superior to IFN-α or ETV monotherapy in decreasing viral load, and promoting HBeAg loss and HBeAg seroconversion for treatment-naïve CHB patients, but the evidence of safety is insufficient. Due to the limited quantity and quality of included studies, the aforementioned conclusions still need to be further verified by conducting more large-scale, high quality RCTs.
Objectives To conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of thymosin-α1 for HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B. Methods We searched MEDLINE, Science Citation Index, Current Content Connect, Cochrane Controlled Trial Register and Chinese Biomedical Database (CBMdisc) to September 15, 2005, and screened the references of eligible trials by hand-searching. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing thymosin-α1 with non-antiviral interventions (placebo, no treatment and standard care) in patients with HBeAg positive chronic hepatitis B were eligible for inclusion. We conducted quality assessment and data extraction by two independent investigators with disagreement resolved by discussion. We used chi-square test and Galbraith plot to detect the heterogeneity, and used fixed (Mantel-Haenzel) and random effect model (DerSimonian-Laird) to pool the trials. When the results in two models differed, the results of random effect were reported. Subgroup analysis was performed to detect whether the duration affected the efficacy of thymosin. Results Four RCTs were included. It was found that the rate of loss of HBeAg was 38.8% in thymosin, significantly higher than that of 12.4% in control groups (RR 2.22, 95%CI 1.55 to 3.21, P=0.000). Loss of HBV-DNA was 36.9% in thymosin-α1, significantly higher than that of 13.8% in control groups (RR 2.18, 95%CI 1.50 to 3.17, P=0.000). Both short-duration (8-13 weeks) and regular duration (26-52 weeks) of thymosin-α1 achieved higher loss of HBeAg and HBV-DNA. The complete response rate was 32.3% in thymosin-α1, significantly higher than the control, 11.3% (RR 2.91, 95%CI 1.71 to 4.94, P=0.000). No statistical significance was found for HBeAg seroconversion and ALT normalization. No significant adverse drug reactions were found. Conclusions Thymosin-α1 might be efficacious in loss of HBeAg and HBV-DNA, and complete response for patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B. Little evidence was available on HBeAg seroconversion, normalization of ALT, loss of HBsAg, and histological response. Further high-quality RCTs were needed for confirmation.
Objective To assess the efficacy of telbivudine in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Methods Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of telbivudine therapy vs. lamivudine therapy in both Chinese and English were retrieved from seven electronic databases with a cut-off date in February 2010, including PubMed, EMbase, VIP, CBM, CNKI, and The Cochrane library. The meta-analyses and evaluation on methodology quality were performed for the included studies. Results Two RCTs as Grade-A study were included. The meta-analyses showed that telbivudine was superior to lamivudine in aspects of therapeutic response (RR=1.28, 95%CI 1.10 to 1.48, P=0.001), ALT normalization (RR=1.12, 95%CI 1.01 to 1.23, P=0.02), and PCR-negative HBV DNA or below the lower limit (RR=1.44, 95%CI 1.36 to 1.53, Plt;0.000 01), primary treatment failure (OR=0.28, 95%CI 0.18, to 0.43, Plt;0.000 01), viral breakthrough (OR=0.38, 95%CI 0.32 to 0.47, Plt;0.000 01) and viral resistance (OR=0.44, 95%CI 0.36 to 0.55, Plt;0.000 01). Conclusion Based on the current clinical evidence, telbivudine demonstrates superiority in comparison with lamivudine on all direct measures of antiviral efficacy for CHB. Because of the short follow-up duration and the small sample size of the included studies, it is expected to further discuss the long-term efficacy.
ObjectiveTo study the value of hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) in the evaluation of antiviral efficacy and its influencing factors under a complex population background resulting from various nationalities in Xinjiang. MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) admitted and administrated with nucleot(s)ide analogues (NAs) for the first time in Traditional Chinese Medical Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from January 2012 to August 2013. The biological, virological, and serological responses were analyzed as well as the possible factors related to HBsAg levels and its reduction levels. ResultsThere were 63 CHB patients enrolled. After 48 weeks' treatment, all patients achieved biological response, and 59 of them achieved complete virological response in spite of 4 patients with partial response. In all the 30 hepatitis B virus e antigen (HBeAg) positive patients, 5 achieved HBeAg seroconversion. After correlation and regression analysis, it turned out that the history (P=0.033) and HBeAg levels at week 48 (P<0.001) were independent impact factors for HBsAg level at week 48. And the reduction degree of HBsAg at week 48 was influenced by HBsAg at week 48. In 21 patients counting to week 72 maintaining biological response, 18 achieved complete virological response. Unfortunately, all 8 HBeAg positive patients encountered no HBeAg loss or seroconversion. After correlation and regression analysis, it turned out that HBsAg level at week 72 was influenced by HBsAg at week 48 (r=0.700, P<0.001). And the decline degree of HBsAg at week 72 was related to baseline HBsAg level. ConclusionSatisfactory efficacy can be achieved via NAs treatment in CHB patients. But when HBsAg is used separately as an indicator for therapeutic efficacy, we should be aware that intrahepatic covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) is not only the impact factor of HBsAg variation, the history, the variations of HBeAg and HBsAg itself during the treatment should also be considered.