Hepatol Int (2013) 7:981–989
DOI 10.1007/s12072-013-9486-
Therapeutic potential of a combined hepatitis B virus surface
and core antigen vaccine in patients with chronic hepatitis B
Mamun Al-Mahtab • Sheikh Mohammad Fazle Akbar •
Julio Cesar Aguilar • Md. Helal Uddin •
Md. Sakirul Islam Khan • Salimur Rahman
Mamun Al-Mahtab and Sheikh Mohammad Fazle Akbar contributed
equally to this study.
M. Al-Mahtab S. Rahman
Department of Hepatology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical
University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
e-mail: [email protected]
S. Rahman
e-mail: [email protected]
S. M. F. Akbar (&)
Department of Medical Sciences, Toshiba General Hospital,
Higashi Oi 6-3-22, Tokyo 140-8522, Japan
e-mail: [email protected]
J. C. Aguilar
Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Havana,
Cuba
e-mail: [email protected]
Md. H. Uddin
Clinical Research Organization, Dhaka, Bangladesh
e-mail: [email protected]
Md. S. I. Khan
Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensign, Bangladesh
e-mail: [email protected]
123
Received: 24 March 2013 / Accepted: 21 October 2013 / Published online: 9 November 2013
Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver 2013
Abstract
Purpose The safety and clinical efficacy of a vaccine
containing both hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and
hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) (HBsAg/HBcAg) were
evaluated in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).
Methods Eighteen patients with CHB were administered
a vaccine containing 100 lg of HBsAg and 100 lg of
HBcAg. The vaccine was administered ten times at
2-weekly intervals, the first five times via the nasal route
only and the subsequent five times via both nasal and
subcutaneous routes. The safety and efficacy of this
therapeutic approach were assessed by periodic assessment
of the patients’ general condition, viral kinetics, and biochemical
parameters during treatment and 24 and 48 weeks
after therapy. The production of cytokines by peripheral
blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and antigen-pulsed
dendritic cells (DC) was evaluated to assess the immunomodulatory
effects of the HBsAg/HBcAg vaccine in CHB
patients.
Results The HBsAg/HBcAg vaccine was safe in all
patients. No flare of HBV DNA or alanine aminotransferase
(ALT) was recorded in any patient. Sustained HBV
DNA negativity and persistently normalized ALT were
detected in 9 (50 %) and 18 (100 %) patients with CHB,
respectively. PBMC and HBsAg/HBcAg-pulsed DCs from
HBsAg/HBcAg-vaccinated CHB patients produced significantly
higher levels of various cytokines [interleukin 1b
(IL-1b), IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, and tumor necrosis factor a
(TNF-a)] than those from control unvaccinated CHB
patients (p\0.05) after stimulation with HBsAg/HBcAg
in vitro.
Conclusion HBsAg/HBcAg vaccine seems a safe and
efficient therapeutic approach for patients with CHB 作者: StephenW 时间: 2014-1-18 22:28
Therapeutic response
Virological response
The virological responses of CHB patients to the vaccine
therapy with HBsAg/HBcAg are shown in Fig. 2. After
completion of the first cycle (five nasal vaccinations), HBV
DNA levels were undetectable (\250 copies/ml) in 5 of 11
HBeAg-negative patients. At the end of the second cycle of
vaccinations, HBV DNA was undetectable in six HBeAgnegative
patients and one HBeAg-positive patient (Fig. 2).
The sera of seven HBeAg-negative patients and two
HBeAg-positive CHB patients were negative for HBV
DNA 48 weeks after the end of treatment (Fig. 2). A further
four HBeAg-positive patients were considered to be
partial responders after follow-up for 48 weeks because
their serum viral loads had declined by 2–5 log copies
(Fig. 2). Six of 12 patients with genotype C and two of five
patients with genotype D were HBV DNA negative at the
week 48 follow-up.
Biochemical response
No flare in ALT was detected during the immunizations or
during follow-up in any patient. The kinetics of ALT at the
five observation points are shown in Table 3. Fluctuations
in ALT were seen at some points between the start of
therapy and the end of the first and second cycles of vaccination.
However, ALT was below ULN in 16 patients at
the end of the second cycle and in all patients 48 weeks
after the end of treatment.
Serological response
HBeAg was eliminated from the blood in three of seven
HBeAg-positive patients at the end of the treatment, and
this response was sustained at the 48-week follow-up. Two
of these patients also developed anti-HBe antibodies in
their sera. HBV DNA was undetectable in both of these
patients.
Immunological response
To estimate the spontaneous production of cytokines,
PBMCs from patients who had received five nasal vaccinations
were stimulated with HBsAg/HBcAg or PDC, an
irrelevant antigen, or were not stimulated with any activator.
As shown in Fig. 3, the levels of IL-1b, IL-6, IL-12,
TNF-a, and IL-8 were significantly higher in the culture
supernatants from the HBsAg/HBcAg-stimulated PBMC
than in those stimulated with PDC or with no antigen
(spontaneous).
DCs were then isolated from five patients with CHB
after the first and second cycles of vaccination. DCs were
also isolated from unvaccinated control patients with CHB.
HBsAg/HBcAg-pulsed DCs produced significantly higher
levels of IL-1b, TNF-a, and IL-12 than PDC-pulsed DCs
from HBsAg/HBcAg-vaccinated CHB patients or HBsAg/
HBcAg-pulsed DCs from control CHB patients (p\0.05)
(Fig. 4). 作者: StephenW 时间: 2014-1-19 09:36