48 Weeks pegylated interferon alfa-2a is superior to 24 weeks of pegylated interferon alfa-2b in achievingHBeAg seroconversion in chronic hepatitis B infection

Abstract

Background/Aim Although 48-week therapy with pegylated-interferons has been shown to be effective for the treatment of chronichepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, the efficacy of a shorter durationof therapy with pegylated interferons is unknown.Method We retrospectively compared the efficacy of 48 weeks treat-ment with pegylated-interferon-alfa-2a to a 24-week regime withpegylated-interferon-alfa-2b in 53 hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive Chinese patients. Sustained virological response (SVR) wasdefined as HBeAg seroconversion and HBV DNA less than 105copies/ml at 24 weeks after the end-of-therapy (EFU).Results Twenty-nine patients were treated with 48 weeks of pegylated-interferon-alfa-2a and 24 patients with 24 weeks of pegylated-interferon-alfa-2b. The baseline characteristics were com-parable between the 2 groups. At the end-of-therapy, 9 of the 29patients (31.0%) treated with 48 weeks of pegylated-interferon-alfa-2a compared with 2 of the 24 patients (8.3%) treated with 24weeks of pegylated-interferon-alfa-2b had HBeAg seroconversion andHBV DNA less than 105 copies/ml (p = 0.09). At the EFU, 10 of the29 patients (34.5%) treated with 48 weeks of pegylated-interferon-alfa-2a compared with 2 of the 24 patients (8.3%) treated with 24weeks of pegylated-interferon-alfa-2b had SVR (p = 0.04). There wasno withdrawals from treatment in both groups. Adverse events werecomparable between the 2 groups.Conclusion A 48-week course of pegylated-interferon may be asso-ciated with a higher SVR when compared with 24-week of pegylated-interferon-alfa-2b.