title: Hepatitis B surface antigen clearance in inactive hepatitis B surface antigen carriers treated with peginterferon alfa-2a.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association between interferon (IFN) therapy and loss of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in inactive HBsAg carriers.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective cohort study in inactive HBsAg carriers, who were treatment-naive, with a serum HBsAg level < 100 IU/mL and an undetectable hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA level (< 100 IU/mL). All the 20 treated patients received subcutaneous PEG-IFN alfa-2a 180 μg/wk for 72 wk and were then followed for 24 wk. There were 40 untreated controls matched with 96 wk of observation. Serum HBsAg, HBV DNA, and alanine aminotransferases were monitored every 3 mo in the treatment group and every 3-6 mo in the control group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirteen (65.0%) of 20 treated patients achieved HBsAg loss, 12 of whom achieved HBsAg seroconversion. Mean HBsAg level in treated patients decreased to 6.69 ± 13.04 IU/mL after 24 wk of treatment from a baseline level of 26.22 ± 33.00 IU/mL. Serum HBV DNA level remained undetectable (< 100 IU/mL) in all treated patients during the study. HBsAg level of the control group decreased from 25.72 ± 25.58 IU/mL at baseline to 17.11 ± 21.62 IU/mL at week 96 (P = 0.108). In the control group, no patient experienced HBsAg loss/seroconversion, and two (5.0%) developed HBV reactivation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  IFN treatment results in HBsAg loss and seroconversion in a considerable proportion of inactive HBsAg carriers with low HBsAg concentrations.
authors.affiliation: Ming-Hui Li, Yao Xie, Lu Zhang, Yao Lu, Ge Shen, Shu-Ling Wu, Min Chang, Cai-Qin Mu, Lei-Ping Hu, Jun Cheng, Dao-Zhen Xu, Liver Disease Center, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100015, China.
authors.forename: Ming-Hui
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Ming-Hui Li, Yao Xie, Lu Zhang, Yao Lu, Ge Shen, Shu-Ling Wu, Min Chang, Cai-Qin Mu, Lei-Ping Hu, Jun Cheng, Dao-Zhen Xu, Liver Disease Center, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100015, China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Ming-Hui Li, Yao Xie, Lu Zhang, Yao Lu, Ge Shen, Shu-Ling Wu, Min Chang, Cai-Qin Mu, Lei-Ping Hu, Jun Cheng, Dao-Zhen Xu, Liver Disease Center, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100015, China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Ming-Hui Li, Yao Xie, Lu Zhang, Yao Lu, Ge Shen, Shu-Ling Wu, Min Chang, Cai-Qin Mu, Lei-Ping Hu, Jun Cheng, Dao-Zhen Xu, Liver Disease Center, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100015, China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Ming-Hui Li, Yao Xie, Lu Zhang, Yao Lu, Ge Shen, Shu-Ling Wu, Min Chang, Cai-Qin Mu, Lei-Ping Hu, Jun Cheng, Dao-Zhen Xu, Liver Disease Center, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100015, China.
authors.forename: Ge
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Ming-Hui Li, Yao Xie, Lu Zhang, Yao Lu, Ge Shen, Shu-Ling Wu, Min Chang, Cai-Qin Mu, Lei-Ping Hu, Jun Cheng, Dao-Zhen Xu, Liver Disease Center, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100015, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Ling
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Ming-Hui Li, Yao Xie, Lu Zhang, Yao Lu, Ge Shen, Shu-Ling Wu, Min Chang, Cai-Qin Mu, Lei-Ping Hu, Jun Cheng, Dao-Zhen Xu, Liver Disease Center, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100015, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Ming-Hui Li, Yao Xie, Lu Zhang, Yao Lu, Ge Shen, Shu-Ling Wu, Min Chang, Cai-Qin Mu, Lei-Ping Hu, Jun Cheng, Dao-Zhen Xu, Liver Disease Center, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100015, China.
authors.forename: Cai-Qin
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.affiliation: Ming-Hui Li, Yao Xie, Lu Zhang, Yao Lu, Ge Shen, Shu-Ling Wu, Min Chang, Cai-Qin Mu, Lei-Ping Hu, Jun Cheng, Dao-Zhen Xu, Liver Disease Center, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100015, China.
authors.forename: Lei-Ping
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Ming-Hui Li, Yao Xie, Lu Zhang, Yao Lu, Ge Shen, Shu-Ling Wu, Min Chang, Cai-Qin Mu, Lei-Ping Hu, Jun Cheng, Dao-Zhen Xu, Liver Disease Center, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100015, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Hao
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.affiliation: Ming-Hui Li, Yao Xie, Lu Zhang, Yao Lu, Ge Shen, Shu-Ling Wu, Min Chang, Cai-Qin Mu, Lei-Ping Hu, Jun Cheng, Dao-Zhen Xu, Liver Disease Center, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100015, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Jing
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Ming-Hui Li, Yao Xie, Lu Zhang, Yao Lu, Ge Shen, Shu-Ling Wu, Min Chang, Cai-Qin Mu, Lei-Ping Hu, Jun Cheng, Dao-Zhen Xu, Liver Disease Center, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100015, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Feng
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Ming-Hui Li, Yao Xie, Lu Zhang, Yao Lu, Ge Shen, Shu-Ling Wu, Min Chang, Cai-Qin Mu, Lei-Ping Hu, Jun Cheng, Dao-Zhen Xu, Liver Disease Center, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100015, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Ming-Hui Li, Yao Xie, Lu Zhang, Yao Lu, Ge Shen, Shu-Ling Wu, Min Chang, Cai-Qin Mu, Lei-Ping Hu, Jun Cheng, Dao-Zhen Xu, Liver Disease Center, Beijing Ditan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100015, China.
authors.forename: Dao-Zhen
authors.initials: DZ
authors.lastname: Xu
keywords: Chronic hepatitis B surface antigen carriers; Hepatitis B surface antigen loss/seroconversion; Inactive hepatitis B surface antigen carriers; Interferon; Peginterferon alfa-2a