Effect of switching from treatment with nucleos(t)ide analogs to pegylated interferon α-2a on virological and serological responses in chronic hepatitis B patients

Table 1 Patient demographics and baseline characteristics

	PegIFNα-2a	ETV	P value
Age (yr), mean	35.41 (95%CI: 32.68-39.03)	35.43 (95%CI: 32.42-38.43)	0.8321
Male	62.86%	68.57%	0.6152
ALT (U/L), mean	34.60 (95%CI: 30.31-38.89)	33.06 (95%CI: 30.15-35.96)	0.7451
HBsAg (IU/mL), mean	6168.8630 (95%CI: 3841.12-8496.60)	5879.4557(95%CI: 3643.06-8115.85)	0.9601
HBeAg (+)	29/44 (65.91%)	(27/44) 61.36%	0.6582

α = 0.05.

¹Non-parametric Wilcoxon test;

²Pearson’s χ² test. ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; HBsAg: Hepatitis B surface antigen; HBeAg: Hepatitis B envelope antigen; PegIFNα-2a: Pegylated interferon-α-2a; ETV: Entecavir.

Table 2 Patient demographics after 48 wk of therapy

	PegIFNα-2a	ETV	P value
HBsAg levels (log10 IU/mL)	3.1340	3.6950	0.001
HBsAg loss rate (%)	15.91	0.0000	0.0182

α = 0.05.

¹Non-parametric Wilcoxon test;

²Pearson’s χ² test. HBsAg: Hepatitis B surface antigen; PegIFNα-2a: PEGylated interferon-α-2a; ETV: Entecavir.

Table 3 Predictors of response to PEGylated interferon-α-2a using baseline parameters and hepatitis B surface antigen levels at week 24

	HBsAg loss at week 48		HBeAg seroconversion at week 48
	n	P value	n	P value
HBsAg level < 1500 IU/mL at baseline	5/12 (41.67%)	0.0161	10/16 (62.5%)	0.0071
HBsAg level ≥ 1500 IU/mL at baseline	2/32 (6.25%)		5/28 (17.86%)
HBeAg-positive at baseline	5/29 (17.24%)	1.0001	-	-
HBeAg-negative at baseline	2/15 (13.33%)		-
HBsAg level < 1500 IU/mL at week 24	7/19 (36.84%)	0.0041	8/17 (47.06%)	0.2661
HBsAg level ≥ 1500 IU/mL at week 24	0/25 (0)		7/27 (25.93%)

¹Continuity correction, α = 0.05. HBsAg: Hepatitis B surface antigen; HBeAg: Hepatitis B envelope antigen.