Changes in serum and histology of patients with chronic hepatitis B after interferon alpha-2b treatment

AIM:Chronic hepatitis B is a serious health problem.Interferon has long been used to treat Chronic hepatitis B.To evaluate the effects of interferon on chronic hepatitis Bbetter,we designed the study to investigate the changes insera and liver histology of patients with chronic hepatitis Bafter interferon alpha-2b treatment.METHODS:Twenty-four patients with chronic hepatitis Bwere enrolled in this study.They all received interferon alpha-2b treatment as following:3 million units,i.m..t.i.w.,for 18weeks.Sera of all patients were obtained respectively forevaluation of ALT,HBsAg,HBcAg,HBeAg,HBV DNA andTIMP-1 before and after interferon treatment,also a liverbiopsy pre-and post-treatment was performed forcomparison of HAI,HBsAg,HBcAg,HBeAg,TIMP-1 andactivated HSC in the liver tissue.RESULTS:Patients who had normalization of serum ALTand seroconversion of HBeAg and/or HBV DNA(blothybridization)after treatment were defined as responders.The response rate in this study group was 37.5%(7/24).Compared to pretreatment,the serum HBV DNA and TIMP-1 decreased significantly(P<0.05),so did the HAI,HBcAg,HBeAg,TIMP-1 and activated HSC(P<0.05).CONCLUSION:The significant decrease in HBV DNA insera,the seroconversion of HBeAg,and the decrease ofviral expression in liver indicated that interferon alpha-2btreatment can inhibit viral replication.The normalization ofALT in sera and the improvement of HAI in liver showedthat interferon alpha-2b can improve the liver histology ofpatients with chronic hepatitis B.At the same time,interferonalpha-2b treatment can reduce the TIMP-1 in serum andliver and decrease the number of activated HSC,which mayallievate or inhibit hepatic fibrosis.Although the responserate was unsatisfactory,interferon play a benefical role onpatients with chronic hepatitis B in other respects.We stillneed further studies to improve the therapy effects.