Durable hepatitis B surface antigen decline in hepatitis B e antigen-positive chronic hepatitis B patients treated with pegylated interferon-α2b: relation to response and HBV genotype

On-treatment decline of serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) may reflect the immunomodulatory effect of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB). We compared HBsAg decline across HBV genotypes between combined responders (HBeAg loss and HBV DNA10,000 copies/ml) and non-responders. HBsAg was measured at baseline, on-treatment and 6 months post-treatment in 221 HBeAg-positive CHB patients treated with PEG-IFN with or without lamivudine for 52 weeks, and in a representative subgroup of 142 patients at long-term follow-up (LTFU; mean 3.0 years). On-treatment HBsAg decline significantly varied according to HBV genotype (A and B more than C and D; P