Objective To observe the therapeutic efficacy of combination therapy with interferon (IFN) and a nucleoside analogue for treating chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients.Methods Two-hundred-and-seven patients diagnosed with CHB were assigned to the following treatment groups:IFN in combination with a nucleoside analogue (group A) ;IFN monotherapy (group B) .The patients in group A were further divided into three combination treatment sub-groups, according to the particular nucleoside analogue administered:lamivudine (LAM;sub-group A1, n=59) ;adefovir dipivoxil (ADV;sub-group A2, n=56) ;and entecavir (ETV;sub-group A3;n=31) .All of the patients received pegylated-IFN (either IFN-2a or IFN-2b) for 52 weeks.The patients in group A received the combination therapy with nucleoside analogue immediately upon initiation of the IFN treatment and lasting for a total of 24 weeks, after which IFN monotherapy was carried out.Results In groups A and B, respectively, 86.3% and 65.6% achieved undetectable levels of HBV DNA at the end of treatment.However, group A achieved a higher rate of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) normalization rate (87.7% vs.group B:76.5%, P<0.05) .Group A also achieved a significantly higher rates of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) clearance (69.3% vs.group B:40%, P<0.05) , hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) clearance (30.1% vs.group B:16.4%, P<0.05) , and HBsAg seroconversion (26.7% vs.group B:11.5%, P<0.05) .Conclusion The combination treatment of IFN plus a nucleoside analogue is more efficacious than IFN monotherapy for treating CHB patients.
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