Viral infection parameters not nucleoside analogue itself correlates with host immunity in nucleoside analogue therapy for chronic hepatitis B

Figure 2 Suppression of hepatitis B virus deoxyribonucleic acid and hepatitis B envelope antigen levels and the expansion of programmed death 1 positive CD8 T cells and CD4+ CD25+ FoxP3+ T regulatory cells. A, B: In patients treated with either lamivudine (LAM) or telbivudine (LDT), the hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA and hepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg) levels decreased significantly compared to the baseline; C: In the LAM group, a significant decrease in the peripheral frequency of programmed death 1 positive CD8 T (PD-1+ CD8 T) cells was observed at treatment week 12; D: In the LDT group, the frequency of PD-1+ CD8 T cells significantly decreased at both week 4 and week 12 compared to the baseline; E and F: In both the LAM group (E) and LDT group (F), a significant decrease in the frequency of T regulatory cells was observed at weeks 12 and 24 compared to the baseline. ^aP < 0.05; ^bP < 0.01. HBV DNA: Hepatitis B virus deoxyribonucleic acid.