title: IgM anti-preS2 monitoring during combined corticosteroid/interferon-alpha 2b therapy in chronic hepatitis B.
abstract: The biological significance of antibody reactivities towards the preS2 gene encoded proteins of HBV is not yet well known. We investigated the pretreatment IgM anti-preS2 (1-55) ad reactivity in 22 Chinese and 11 Swedish patients with active HBV disease. Significantly enhanced IgM anti-preS2 levels (titers greater than 1/1000) were observed in 48% (16/33) of these patients. The OD405 values for sera from patients with indolent HBsAg carriership were within the range of that obtained for "normal" control-sera when tested at dilutions from 1/1000 to 1/128,000. Five Chinese patients were treated with a short course of corticosteroids, followed by alpha-interferon 2b (IFN-alpha 2b) treatment for 16 weeks. The IgM anti-preS2 response was consecutively monitored during treatment. A beneficial effect on the outcome of the combined treatment was associated with rising titers of IgM anti-preS2 during the prednisolone cycle. The IgM anti-preS2 levels fell dramatically upon steroid withdrawal and were followed by a second peak response of IgM anti-preS2 reactivity during the IFN-alpha 2b treatment. No sustained loss of HBV-DNA or DNA polymerase with concomitant HBe/anti-HBe seroconversion was observed in treated patients, who lacked detectable pretreatment levels of IgM anti-preS2 in circulation.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Immunology Research Unit, Jing An Central District Hospital, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: G Z
authors.initials: GZ
authors.lastname: Fei
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Sylvan
authors.forename: U B
authors.initials: UB
authors.lastname: Hellström
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Yao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015166:Monitoring, Immunologic; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000276:immunology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins
chemical_list: D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011498:Protein Precursors; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C050807:presurface protein 2, hepatitis B surface antigen; D011239:Prednisolone