Shao-Long Chen,1 Yao-Jie Shen,2 Guo-Zhi Chen1 

1Department of Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Yueqing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wenzhou, 325600, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Infectious Diseases, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200040, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Shao-Long Chen, Yueqing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wenzhou, 325600, People’s Republic of China, Email chenshaolong@zjsru.edu.cn

Purpose: Worldwide, chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB) infection is a public health concern, ultimately leading to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Currently, patients with CHB can be treated using polyethylene glycol (PEG)ylated interferon (PEG-IFN) antiviral therapy, which has both immune modulatory and antiviral properties. This study aimed to reveal the mechanism underlying the effect of PEG-IFN therapy, to rationally optimize this therapeutic option.
Patients and Methods: Ten patients with CHB who were positive for the hepatitis B virus e antigen (HBeAg) and were receiving PEG-IFN treatment were enrolled. Clinical and virological parameters were monitored during 48 weeks of treatment. In addition, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were collected from the 10 patients at 0, 24, and 36 weeks. RNA sequencing technology was used to analyze the RNA expression profile in the PBMC samples.
Results: Following PEG-IFN treatment, we identified 217 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), most of which were upregulated. Gene ontology enrichment analysis of the DEGs revealed that they were enriched in 29 clusters, mainly associated with “antiviral defense”, “innate immunity”, “immunity”, “defense response to virus”, “response to virus”, “type I interferon signaling pathway”, “negative regulation of viral genome replication”, “innate immune response”, and “RNA-binding”.
Conclusion: After PEG-IFN treatment, a certain mRNA expression profile was observed in patients with CHB, providing further mechanistic insights into the antiviral effect of this therapy.

Keywords: Chronic infection, Hepatitis B, PEGylated interferon, RNA sequencing