Durability of Hepatitis B surface antigen seroclearance in patients experienced nucleoside analogs or interferon monotherapy: A real-world data from Electronic Health Record

Little is known about the difference in durability of HBsAg seroclearance induced by nucleoside analogs (NAs) or by interferon (IFN). A real-world, retrospective cohort study was conducted. Patients were assigned into two groups: NAs monotherapy-induced HBsAg seroclear-ance subjects and IFN monotherapy induced-HBsAg seroclearance subjects. A total of 198 sub-jects, comprised by 168 NAs monotherapy-induced and 30 IFN monotherapy-induced, who achieved HBsAg seroclearance were included in this study. The one-year probabilities of confirmed HBsAg seroclearance were significantly different in patients with NAs monotherapy and IFN monotherapy (0.960 (with 95% CI 0.922-0.999) vs. 0.691 (with 95% CI 0.523-0.913), log-rank -P= 4.04e-4). 73.3% (11 of 15) HBsAg recurrence occurred within one year after HBsAg seroclearance. The one-year probabilities of confirmed HBsAg seroclearance were higher in IFN monotherapy patients with anti-HBs than in IFN monotherapy patients without anti-HBs (0.839 (with 95% CI 0.657-1.000) vs. 0.489 (with 95% CI 0.251-0.953), log-rank test, P = 0.024). Our study thus provided novel insights into the durability of HBsAg seroclearance induced by NAs or IFN monotherapy. In particular, the HBsAg seroreversion rate was relatively high in IFN mono -therapy subjects. The presence of anti-HBs was significantly correlated with a longer durability of functional cure induced by IFN treatment. And one-year follow-up in HBsAg seroclearance achieved individuals is proper for averting HBsAg seroreversion and other liver disease. & COPY; 2022 The Authors. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This retrospective study compares the durability of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance induced by nucleoside analogs (NAs) or interferon (IFN). The study found significant differences in the one-year probabilities of HBsAg seroclearance between patients treated with NAs monotherapy and IFN monotherapy. IFN treatment induced HBsAg seroclearance has higher durability, and the presence of anti-HBs is significantly associated with a longer duration of functional cure.