No significant differences in histology and response to interferon treatment in hepatitis B carriers of genotypes C and recombinant B

Summary.  Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes B and C are most prevalent in China and genotype B is found exclusively in recombination with the pre-C/C gene of genotype C. We investigated whether there is a difference in clinical relevance between the two genotypes sharing the same pre-C/C gene. Thus, we determined the genotype of HBV among consecutive HBeAg-positive patients with tailored interferon-alpha (IFN- α ) therapy, and the demographic, baseline clinical characteristics and treatment results were compared between them. The median values of alanine transaminase (ALT) were 4.5 and 5.0 times the upper limit of normal ( P  = 0.419), HBV-DNA levels were 1.4 × 10⁷ and 1.5 × 10⁷copies/mL ( P  = 0.829), mean scores of necroinflammatory histological activity 9.8 and 10.44 ( P  = 0.105) and fibrotic activity 2.64 and 2.86 ( P  = 0.227) in genotype B and C patients, respectively. The end-of-treatment response was 42.7% and 39.0% ( P  = 0.531) with mean tailored treatment months of 8.28 and 9.34 ( P  = 0.160), and the sustained response 43.4% and 37.5% ( P  = 0.31) at the end of a 12-month follow-up period in genotype B and C patients, respectively. These results remained similar when follow-up was extended to nearly 3 years. In conclusion, no significant differences in clinical characteristics and response to IFN- α between genotypes B and C were found, probably, because both types shared a common pre-C/C encoding region.