Long‐term efficacy and safety of peginterferon in the treatment of children with HBeAg‐positive chronic hepatitis B

作者：Yunhua Liu, Hui Li, Yan Xiaohui, Jia Wei · 发表于：Journal of Viral Hepatitis · 年份：2019 · DOI：10.1111/jvh.13154 · 被引用次数：31 · 研究领域：Hepatitis B Virus Studies、Hepatitis C virus research、Hepatitis Viruses Studies and Epidemiology

Achieving 'clinical cure' in children with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) with safe and effective antiviral treatment is an unmet medical need. Peginterferon (PegIFN) has higher hepatitis B s antigen (HBsAg) clearance than nucleoside analogs (NUC). Currently, studies on interferon (IFN) in the treatment of Chinese children with CHB are relatively rare. This study aimed to further explore the efficacy of PegIFNα-2a as an antiviral treatment in Chinese children and analyse the long-term follow-up after drug discontinuation. We enrolled 118 patients with CHB (2-16 years old, 79 cases are males) treated with PegIFNα-2a by the author in the Third People's Hospital of Kunming City from February 2009 to February 2015. The course of treatment was 52 weeks, with a follow-up period of 104 weeks. All the patients completed at least 1 dose, of which 104 completed at least 36 weeks of treatment and 104 weeks of follow-up. During treatment and follow-up, indicators such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT), hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA and HBV serological markers were monitored, and the efficacy and safety of PegIFNα-2a in the treatment of CHB patients were observed. Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) clearance and seroconversion rates were 53.8% and 49%, respectively, when the drug was discontinued; 72.1% and 72.1%, respectively, at the end of the follow-up; and 98.2% and 98%, respectively, for sustained response. HBsAg clearance and seroconversion rates were 48.1% and 47.1%, respectively, when the dru...