Serum Pre-Sl and Pre-S2 Antigens as Prognostic Markers in Interferon Therapy for Chronic Hepatitis B

Abstract

Haruna Y, Hayashi N, Yuki N, Kasahara A, Fusamoto H, Karaada T. Serum pre-Sl and pre-S2 antigens as prognostic markers in interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis B. Scand J Gastroenterol 1992;27:615-619.

We investigated the changes of serum pre-Sl and pre-S2 antigens before and after interferon therapy in 35 carriers with HBeAg, to examine their clinical significance in the therapy. Both antigens were measured quantitatively by solid-phase enzyme immunoassays using monoclonal antibodies specific to each antigen. The titers of these antigens of responders before therapy were significantly lower (p < 0.001) than those of non-responders (6.23 + 1.09 versus 8.65 + 2.09 and 4.46 + 1.27 versus 6.50 + 1.50, respectively). The titers decreased significantly 6 months after interferon therapy in the responders (p<0.05), whereas they did not change in the non-responders. Our findings indicate that pre-Sl and pre-S2 antigens have a close correlation with hepatitis B virus replication and are valuable markers for predicting the responsiveness to interferon therapy.

Key Words:

• Enzyme immunoassay
• hepatitis B virus
• interferon therapy
• pre-S1 antigen
• pre-S2 antigen