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Background None of the current guidelines recommend antiviral therapy for inactive hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers (IHCs). Methods In this real-world, multicenter, nonrandomized study, 32 participants meeting the inclusion criteria were enrolled 1:1 for treatment with peginterferon α-2b or monitoring without treatment based on participant preference. The expected treatment duration was 48 weeks. The primary end point was hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss. The HBV vaccine could be injected after HBsAg loss. Results All patients had HBsAg levels of <20 IU/mL. The mean baseline HBsAg levels were 6.6 IU/mL and 5.8 IU/mL in the treated and untreated groups, respectively. Fifteen (93.8%) participants achieved HBsAg loss, 5 obtained HBsAg seroconversion after undergoing a mean of 19.7 weeks of therapy in the treated group, and no one in the follow-up group achieved HBsAg loss during a mean follow-up time of 12.6 months (P <.0001). Generally, the therapy was well tolerated. Nine of 11 individuals who exhibited HBsAg loss benefited from receiving the HBV vaccine. Conclusions This study provides justification for further studies of short-course peginterferon α-2b for the functional cure of IHCs with low HBsAg levels. Additionally, HBV vaccine injection is beneficial after interferon-induced HBsAg loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the the clinical efficacy, safety and effects of entecavir combined with peginterferon α-2 b in the treatment of hepatitis B E antigen(HBeAg) positive hepatitis B. Methods: 97 cases of HBeAg positive hepatitis B patients enrolled in our hospital from October 2015 to October 2017 were divided into control group(n=48) and observation group(n=49) by random number table methods. The control group was treated with subcutaneous injection of peginterferon α-2 b, while the observation group was treated with entecavir combined with peginterferon alpha-2 b. The clinical efficacy, the content of aspartate aminotransferase(AST),alanine aminotransferase(ALT) and hepatitis B virus DNA(HBV-DNA), the conversion rate of HBeAg serological, the seroconversion rate of hepatitis B virus deoxyribonucleic acid(HBV-DNA), and the incidence of adverse reactions of the patients in the two groups after treatment was compared. Results: The total effective rate of observation group was 91.84%, which was significantly higher than that of control group(x2=8.50, P<0.05). After treatment, the contents of ALT, AST and HBV-DNA in observation group was significantly lower than those in control group(P <0.05), the repetition rate of ALT, the conversion rate of HBeAg serological,the seroconversion rate of HBV-DNA rate was significantly higher than those of the control group(P<0.05). After treatment, the incidence of adverse reactions in the observation group was 30.61%, compared with 29.17% in the control group, the difference was not statistically significant(P>0.05).Conclusion: The efficacy of entecavir combined with peginterferon α-2 b in the treatment of HBeAg positive hepatitis B is better than that of interferon alone, it can reduce the contagiousness and has a good safty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ideal approach to treat chronic hepatitis B remains controversial. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of peginterferon (PEG-IFN) α-2b and entecavir hydrate (ETV) as a combination therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis B, particularly in the context of virological response and the reduction of intrahepatic covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA). A total of 17 patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype C were enrolled in this study. All subjects were treated with this combination therapy for 48 weeks and observed for an additional 24 weeks. All patients underwent liver biopsy before and after the therapy period. Changes in cccDNA levels and liver histology were monitored between biopsies. Among the 11 patients who exhibited pre-therapy hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), 8 (73%) showed evidence of HBeAg seroconversion by the end of the follow-up period. Serum HBV DNA levels decreased by 5.2 and 3.3 log copies/ml (mean) by the end of the therapy and follow-up periods, respectively. In addition, intrahepatic cccDNA decreased significantly to 1.4 log copies/µg (mean) by the end of the therapy period. Among the 11 patients who did not experience viral relapse, only 2 (18%) exhibited high levels of cccDNA (>4.5 log copies/µg) by the end of the treatment period. In contrast, all relapsed subjects exhibited significantly higher levels of cccDNA than subjects who did not relapse ( P = 0.027). The combination regimen is a promising approach to treat chronic hepatitis B and may achieve significant reduction in serum HBV DNA and intrahepatic cccDNA. J. Med. Virol. 85: 987-995, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]