title: Serum pre-S1 and pre-S2 antigens as prognostic markers in interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis B.
abstract: We investigated the changes of serum pre-S1 and pre-S2 antigens before and after interferon therapy in 35 carriers with HBeAg, to examine their clinical significance in the therapy. Both antigens were measured quantitatively by solid-phase enzyme immunoassays using monoclonal antibodies specific to each antigen. The titers of these antigens of responders before therapy were significantly lower (p less than 0.001) than those of non-responders (6.23 +/- 1.09 versus 8.65 +/- 2.09 and 4.46 +/- 1.27 versus 6.50 +/- 1.50, respectively). The titers decreased significantly 6 months after interferon therapy in the responders (p less than 0.05), whereas they did not change in the non-responders. Our findings indicate that pre-S1 and pre-S2 antigens have a close correlation with hepatitis B virus replication and are valuable markers for predicting the responsiveness to interferon therapy.
authors.affiliation: First Dept. of Medicine, Osaka University Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Haruna
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yuki
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kasahara
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fusamoto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kamada
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D011498:Protein Precursors; C050806:presurface protein 1, hepatitis B surface antigen; C050807:presurface protein 2, hepatitis B surface antigen; D007372:Interferons