Clinical implication of serum Wisteria floribunda agglutinin positive Mac-2-binding protein level on hepatitis B e-antigen loss or seroconversion in hepatitis B e-antigen positive patients.

Aim: To examine the impact of pretreatment Wisteria floribunda agglutinin positive Mac-2-binding protein (WFA ⁺ -M2BP) level on hepatitis B e-antigen (HBeAg) loss or HBeAg seroconversion (SC) for patients with nucleoside/nucleotide analog (NUC) therapy naive HBeAg positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB).
Methods: A total of 57 patients were analyzed. All subjects were initially treated with NUC. We examined the impact of pretreatment WFA ⁺ -M2BP level on HBeAg loss and HBeAg SC using univariate and multivariate analyses.
Results: There were 36 men and 21 women (median age, 39 years). The WFA ⁺ -M2BP cut-off index (COI) level ranged 0.43-12.9 (median, 1.55). WFA ⁺ -M2BP level in patients with F3 or F4 was significantly higher than that with F0-F2. WFA ⁺ -M2BP level in patients with A2 or 3 was significantly higher than that with A0 or 1. For all cases, the 1- and 3-year cumulative HBeAg loss rates were 10.5% and 34.4% and the corresponding cumulative HBeAg SC rates were 8.8% and 29.0%, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, in terms of HBeAg loss, pretreatment HBV DNA of 5 log copies/mL or more and pretreatment WFA ⁺ -M2BP level of more than 1.55 COI tended to be significant factors linked to loss of HBeAg, while in terms of HBeAg SC, pretreatment HBV DNA of 5 log copies/mL or more was an independent predictor and pretreatment WFA ⁺ -M2BP level of more than 1.55 COI tended to be a significant factor.
Conclusion: Pretreatment WFA ⁺ -M2BP level may be a useful predictor for HBeAg loss or SC after NUC therapy for patients with HBeAg positive CHB.
(© 2016 The Japan Society of Hepatology.)