The relationship between the clearance of HBsAg and the remodeling of B cell subsets in CHB patients treated with Peg-IFN-α

• Published in: Annals of translational medicine Vol. 9; no. 5; p. 414
• Main Authors: Wu, Ze-Qian, Tan, Lei, Gan, Wei-Qiang, Mo, Zhi-Shuo, Chen, Da-Biao, Wang, Pei-Pei, Zhao, Qi-Yi, Xie, Dong-Ying, Gao, Zhi-Liang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: China AME Publishing Company 01.03.2021
• Subjects: Original; Peg-IFN-α; hepatitis B virus (HBV); chronic hepatitis B (CHB); B-cell
• ISSN: 2305-5839; 2305-5839
• DOI: 10.21037/atm-21-409

The seroconversion of the hepatitis B antigen is the ideal outcome for long-acting interferon-pegylated interferon-α (Peg-IFN-α) treatment among patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). B-cell response plays an important role in the process of hepatitis B antigen clearance, but the specific mechanism by which B-cell improve hepatitis B virus (HBV) is still unclear. A total of 103 CHB patients participated in this study. The patients received 24 weeks of Peg-IFN-α treatment. Flow cytometry was used to detect B-cell surface markers' cluster of differentiation cluster of differentiation CD19, CD24, and CD27 in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of CHB patients before and after 24 weeks of Peg-IFN-α treatment. After 24 weeks of Peg-IFN-α treatment, the content of memory B cells (CD19 CD27 ) and effector B cells (CD19 CD38 ) increased significantly. Further analysis showed that the clearance of the hepatitis B antigen was correlated with the change value, ΔT, of plasma cells before and after treatment. The B-cell subsets (CD19 CD24 ; CD19 CD40 ; CD19 CD40 ; CD19 CD80 ), was also tested and the results showed that CD19 CD24 and CD19 CD80 content also increased significantly after treatment. After Peg-IFN-α treatment, the B-cell subsets of CHB patients are remodeled. Thus, Peg-IFN-α treatment appears to play an important role in the remodeling of B cell subsets and the clearance of HBV antigens. The results of this study provide a theoretical basis and guidance for the clinical treatment of CHB.