慢性乙型肝炎患者外周血单个核细胞中HBV cccDNA预测拉米夫定的治疗效果

Predictive value of HBV cccDNA in PBMC of response to lamivudine therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis B

AIM: To assess the value of hepatitis B virus (HBV) co-valently closed circle DNA (cccDNA) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) for the prediction of the sustained response to lamivudine therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis B. METHODS: Seventeen chronic hepatitis B patients with complete or partial response (serum HBV DNA turned negative, and ALT was normalized with or without HBeAg/ anti-HBe seroconversion) were selected. HBV cccDNA in PBMC was detected at the end of lamivudine treatment, and 1 year after treatment. RESULTS: Nine out of 17 patients were positive for HBV cccDNA in their PBMC at the end of lamivudine treatment. Virological relapse were found during 1-year follow-up in all of these 9 patients; whereas only 1 relapse was observed among the 8 patients without HBV cccDNA. CONCLUSION: HBV cccDNA in PBMC at the end of treatment is of good predictive value for the sustained response to lamivudine treatment in chronic hepatitis B patients.