已发表论文

接受聚乙二醇干扰素治疗的慢性乙型肝炎患者细胞因子的表达模式

 

Authors Chen SL, Xiao H, Li GJ, Shen YJ

Received 9 January 2023

Accepted for publication 27 April 2023

Published 10 May 2023 Volume 2023:16 Pages 1771—1782

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/IJGM.S402524

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 3

Editor who approved publication: Professor Hyam Leffert

Purpose: Chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB) infection is a worldwide health problem. Polyethylene glycol (PEG)ylated interferon (PEG-IFN) is an available therapy for CHB that has antiviral and immunomodulatory effects. However, PEG-IFN therapy is limited by the fact that only a subset of patients show a sustained response, its severe side effects, and high cost. The aim of this study was to explore novel biomarkers for the early prediction of PEG-IFN treatment response and to uncover its underlying mechanism.
Patients and Methods: We enrolled 10 paired patients with Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive CHB who received PEG-IFN-α 2a monotherapy. Patient serum samples were collected at 0, 4, 12, 24, and 48 weeks and serum samples were collected from eight healthy people as healthy controls. For confirmation, we enrolled 27 patients with HBeAg-positive CHB receiving PEG-IFN therapy and serum samples at 0 and 12 weeks were obtained. Serum samples were analyzed using Luminex technology.
Results: Among 27 assessed cytokines, 10 cytokines were identified to have high expression levels. Among them, six cytokines had significant differences in their levels between the patients with HBeAg-positive CHB and the healthy controls (P < 0.05). Potentially, treatment response could be predicted using the early time points of 4, 12, and 24 weeks. Moreover, after 12 weeks of PEG-IFN treatment, increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and decreased levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines were observed. The fold change of IP-10 between 12 weeks and 0 weeks correlated with the decrease in ALT levels from 0 to 12 weeks (r = 0.2675, P = 0.0024).
Conclusion: In patients with CHB, we observed a certain pattern in the levels of cytokines during treatment with PEG-IFN, and the cytokine IP-10 might be a potential biomarker for treatment response.
Keywords: chronic hepatitis B, PEGylated interferon, cytokine, chemokine, Luminex