The potential effect of HBV vaccination on off-treatment HBsAg reversion after interferon-induced HBsAg clearance

• Main Authors: Shaowen Jiang (Author), Minghao Cai (Author), Zhenglan Zhang (Author), Cong Qian (Author), Jiexiao Wang (Author), Ziqiang Li (Author), Qing Guo (Author), Huijuan Zhou (Author), Haiguang Xin (Author), Wei Cai (Author), Hui Wang (Author), Simin Guo (Author), Yan Huang (Author), Qing Xie (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group, 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

Off-treatment HBsAg reversion occurs in a considerable number of chronic hepatitis B(CHB) patients after IFN(interferon)-induced HBsAg clearance. HBV vaccination protects the general population against HBV infection. However, it remains unclear whether HBV vaccination could prevent off-treatment HBsAg reversion in CHB patients with HBsAg clearance. CHB patients (n = 199) with HBsAg clearance were included in the current study, comprising spontaneous HBsAg clearance group (n = 51), NA (nucleoside/nucleotide analogues)-induced group (n = 36) and IFN-induced group (n = 112). Log-rank test was performed to compare the cumulative incidences of HBsAg reversion between groups. Cox regression model was used to identify the factors associated with off-treatment HBsAg reversion. The 5-year cumulative incidence of HBsAg reversion in IFN-induced group was significantly higher than that in NA-induced group or spontaneous group (27.6% vs. 3.3% vs. 8.1%, both p < .05). In IFN-induced group, 66.7% of CHB patients received HBV vaccination. The cumulative incidence of HBsAg reversion in individuals with strong responses to HBV vaccination (HBsAb level >100mIU/ml) was significantly lower than that in those with weak responses to HBV vaccination (HBsAb level ≤100mIU/ml) or without HBV vaccination in IFN-induced group (7.7% vs. 58.5% vs. 31.9%, both p < .05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis confirmed strong responses to HBV vaccination were independently associated with a lower cumulative incidence of HBsAg reversion after IFN-induced HBsAg clearance (HR = 0.246, 95%CI: 0.066-0.907, p = .035). HBV vaccination has potential to prevent off-treatment HBsAg reversion in CHB patients after IFN-induced HBsAg clearance via a sufficiently high level of HBsAb, helping clinicians optimize the clinical management of such patients.

Item Description

2164-5515
2164-554X
10.1080/21645515.2022.2161254