Levels of HBV RNA in chronic HBV infected patients during first-line nucleos(t)ide analogues therapy
Bei Jiang # 1 2 , Qinghai Dai # 1 2 , Yamin Liu 1 2 , Guangxin Yu 3 , Yuqiang Mi 4 5
Affiliations
Affiliations
1
Tianjin Second People's Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300192, People's Republic of China.
2
Tianjin Institute of Hepatology, Tianjin Second People's Hospital, 7th Sudi South Road, Nankai, Tianjin, 300192, People's Republic of China.
3
Department of Microbiology and Infectious Disease Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, 100191, People's Republic of China.
4
Tianjin Second People's Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300192, People's Republic of China. [email protected].
5
Tianjin Institute of Hepatology, Tianjin Second People's Hospital, 7th Sudi South Road, Nankai, Tianjin, 300192, People's Republic of China. [email protected].
#
Contributed equally.
PMID: 36476371 DOI: 10.1186/s13027-022-00473-9
Abstract
Background: Serum HBV RNA has been considered a potential biomarker in monitoring the prognosis of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). However, Real-life cohort studies on the profile of HBV RNA in chronic HBV infected patients during first-line nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) are lacking. We aimed to investigate HBV RNA dynamic pattern and clinical value chronic HBV infected patients under NA therapy.
Methods: HBV RNA and clinical assessments were measured in 82 treatment-naïve chronic HBV infected patients. These enrolled patients were categorized into HBeAg-positive chronic HBV infected (n = 53) and HBeAg-negative chronic HBV infected (n = 29). Of these, there were 59, 46, and 30 chronic HBV infected patients completed the follow-up clinical assessments at 12, 24, and 48 weeks of NAs therapy, respectively.
Results: In treatment-naïve patients, there was a positive correlation between HBV RNA and HBV DNA, HBsAg (r = 0.602 and 0.502. P < 0.05). The median level of HBV DNA was higher than HBV RNA by 1.64 log10 copies/mL. The mean level of serum HBV RNA was 4.62 (IQR: 3.05-5.82) log10 copies/mL at baseline, and the median level of HBV RNA was 2.88 (IQR: 0-4.67), 2.71 (IQR: 0-4.22), and 2.96 (IQR: 0-4.32) log10 copies/mL at week 12, 24, and 48, respectively. HBV RNA showed a positive linear correlation with HBV DNA at 12, 24, and 48 weeks of NA treatment (r = 0.640, 0.715, and 0.656 respectively, P < 0.05). In patients who were treated 48 weeks NAs, 67% had quantifiable HBV RNA while only 37% had quantifiable HBV DNA.
Conclusion: HBV RNA has signature profiles in different stages of chronic HBV infected patients receiving first-line NAs. During antiviral treatment, HBV RNA can still monitor the virus activity in patients whose serum HBV DNA cannot be detected.