Expression Pattern of Cytokines in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B Receiving PEGinterferon Therapy

Figures & data

Table 1 Baseline Characteristics of the 10 Paired Patients with HBeAg-Positive CHB Receiving 48 Weeks of PEG-IFN Monotherapy

	Response (N = 5)	No Response (N = 5)	P
Male (%)	5 (100%)	5 (100%)
Age (years)	30.2 ± 10.0	29.8 ± 4.44	0.937
HBV DNA (log IU/mL)	7.19 ± 7.30	7.56 ± 7.29	0.142
HBsAg (log IU/mL)	4.67 ± 4.85	4.72 ± 4.56	0.898
HBeAg (S/CO)	391.18 ± 291.02	713.32 ± 435.25	0.206
ALT (U/L)	174.2 ± 99.31	276.60 ± 147.99	0.235
AST (U/L)	134.60 ± 82.23	94.40 ± 46.29	0.369
Albumin (g/L)	45.86 ± 2.79	46.84 ± 3.98	0.664
HBV Genotype
B	2	2
C	3	3

Table 2 Baseline Characteristics of 27 Patients with HBeAg-Positive CHB Who Received PEG-IFN Monotherapy or PEG-IFN and Nucleos(t)ide Analog Combination Therapy

	Response (N = 6)	No Response (N = 21)	P
Male (%)	66.67 (%)	71.43 (%)
Age (years)	34 ± 8.32	32 ± 5.18	0.474
HBV DNA (log IU/mL)	7.58 ± 7.79	7.42 ± 7.59	0.627
HBsAg (log IU/mL)	3.68 ± 3.74	4.30 ± 4.37	0.390
HBeAg (S/CO)	356.31 ± 396.25	646.63 ± 525.62	0.223
ALT (U/L)	165.67 ± 209.11	132.90 ± 162.10	0.685
AST (U/L)	82 ± 82.64	73.14 ± 60.47	0.830

Figure 1 The dynamic levels of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA, aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and Albumin in the response and no response group among 10 paired patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B receiving polyethylene glycol (PEG)ylated-interferon (PEG-IFN) monotherapy for 48 weeks.

Figure 2 The detection rates of the 27 cytokines in the 10 paired patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B receiving PEG-IFN monotherapy for 48 weeks.

Abbreviations: IP-10, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10; TGFβ1, transforming growth factor beta 1; CXCL9, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 9; G-CSF, granulocyte colony stimulating factor; TNFα, tumor necrosis factor alpha; IFNγ, interferon gamma; IL, interleukin; TGFβ2, transforming growth factor beta 2; IFNα2, interferon alpha 2; MIP-1α, macrophage inflammatory protein 1-alpha; TGFβ3, transforming growth factor beta 3; PEG-IFN, polyethylene glycol (PEG)ylated-interferon; HBeAg, hepatitis B e antigen.

Figure 3 Six cytokines with significant differences between 10 paired patients with hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and healthy controls. *P < 0.05.

Abbreviations: IP-10, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10; CXCL9, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 9; IFNγ, interferon gamma; IL-16, interleukin 16; TGFβ2, transforming growth factor beta 2; IL-27, interleukin 27.

Figure 4 The levels of IL-27, TGF-β2, IL-16, IFN-γ, CXCL9, and IP-10 in virological responders and non-responders among 10 patients who were hepatitis B e antigen positive during PEG-IFN treatment.

Abbreviations: IL-27, interleukin 27; TGFβ2, transforming growth factor beta 2; IL-16, interleukin 16; IFNγ, interferon gamma; CXCL9, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 9; IP-10, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10; PEG-IFN, polyethylene glycol (PEG)ylated-interferon.

Figure 5 The levels of TGF-β1, G-CSF, TNFα, and IL-8 in virological responders and non-responders among 10 patients who were hepatitis B e antigen positive during PEG-IFN treatment.

Abbreviations: G-CSF, granulocyte colony stimulating factor; IL-8, interleukin 8; TNFα, tumor necrosis factor alpha; TGFβ1, transforming growth factor beta 1; PEG-IFN, polyethylene glycol (PEG)ylated-interferon.

Figure 6 The heat map of eight highly expressed cytokines in the 37 patients at week 0 and week 12.

Abbreviations: G-CSF, granulocyte colony stimulating factor; IFNγ, interferon gamma; IL-8, interleukin 8; IP-10, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10; TNFα, tumor necrosis factor alpha; IL-16, interleukin 16; TGFβ1, transforming growth factor beta 1; TGFβ2, transforming growth factor beta 2.

Figure 7 The correlation between the fold change in the C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10 (IP-10) level from week 12 to week 0 and the decreasing aminotransferase (ALT) value week 0 to week 12.

Data Sharing Statement

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.