The presence of baseline HBsAb-Specific B cells can predict HBsAg or HBeAg seroconversion of chronic hepatitis B on treatment
Shengxia Yin, Yawen Wan, Rahma Issa, Yijia Zhu, Xiao‐Ming Xu, Jia‐Cheng Liu, Minxin Mao, Ming Li, Xin Tong, Chen Tian, Jian Wang, Rui Huang, Qun Zhang, Chao Wu, Yuxin Chen, Jie Li
Abstract
Background Indices for predicting HBsAg or HBeAg seroconversion in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection during antiviral therapy remain elusive.Objective We aimed to investigate if the presence of HBsAb-specific B cells at baseline can predict HBsAg or HBeAg seroconversion in patients with chronic HBV being treated with peg-IFN-α or nucleotide analogues (NAs).Methods 134 treatment-naive patients with chronic HBV were enrolled in the study. We collected peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from all patients and performed a baseline HBsAb-specific B cell ELISpot assay. Serum samples were collected at 12 weeks, 24 weeks, and 48 weeks for patients treated with Peg-IFN-α, or at 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years for patients treated with NAs. Laboratory testing of HBsAg, HBsAb, HBeAg, HBeAb, HBcAb, HBV DNA, ALT, and AST was done. The role of baseline HBsAb-specific B cells in predicting HBsAg seroconversion in patients treated with peg-IFN-α and HBeAg seroconversion in patients treated with NAs was analyzed. Logistic regression was used to analyze influential factors for HBsAg seroconversion in patients on Peg-IFN-α treatment.Results We observed a significantly lower frequency of HBsAb-specific B cells in patients with chronic HBV than in healthy individuals (4.16 vs. 44.78 cells per 106 PBMCs). In the Peg-IFN-α-treated group, 41.2% (14 out of 34) of patients with baseline HBsAb-specific B cells achieved HBsAg seroconversion, while only 13.6% (6 out of 44) of patients without baseline HBsAb-specific B cells achieved HBsAg seroconversion (P = 0.006). By logistic regression analysis, patients with baseline HBsAb-specific B cells and HBsAg ≤ 1500 had higher HBsAg clearance at the end of treatment (P < 0.05). In the NA-treated group, 58.3% (7 out of 12) of patients with baseline HBsAb-specific B cells achieved HBeAg seroconversion, whereas only 30.0% (6 out of 20) of patients without baseline HBsAb-specific B cells achieved HBeAg seroconversion (P = 0.114).Conclusion Baseline HBsAb-specific B cells by ELISpot assay might be a valuable predictive biomarker of HBsAg or HBeAg seroconversion in patients with chronic HBV.