Antiviral Response across Genotypes after Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B Patients with the Therapeutic Vaccine NASVAC or Pegylated Interferon
Mamun Al‐Mahtaba✉, Sheikh Mohammad Fazle Akbarb✉, Osamu Yoshidab, Julio Cesar Aguilarc, Gerardo E Guillénc, Yoichi Hiasab
- aInterventional Hepatology Division, Department of Hepatology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
- bDepartment of Gastroenterology and Metabology, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Ehime 791-0295, Japan
- cCenter for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Havana 10400, Cuba
- ✉Corresponding author
Papers open inside SciRah from the original publisher or repository; SciRah never hosts them.
Abstract
An open-level, randomized and treatment-controlled clinical trial has shown that a therapeutic vaccine containing hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) (NASVAC) is endowed with antiviral and liver protecting capacity and is safer than pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). The present study provides information about the role of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype in this phase III clinical trial. From a total of 160 patients enrolled in this trial, the HBV genotypes of 133 patients were characterized, and NASVAC induced a stronger antiviral effect (HBV DNA reduction below 250 copies per mL) than Peg-IFN. The antiviral effects and alanine aminotransferase levels were not significantly different among different HBV genotypes in NASVAC-treated patients. However, a significantly higher proportion of genotype-D patients receiving NASVAC showed better therapeutic effects, compared to genotype-D patients receiving Peg-IFN, with a marked difference of 44%. In conclusion, NASVAC seems to be a better alternative to Peg-IFN, especially in patients with HBV genotype-D patients. This reflects the attractiveness of NASVAC in countries where genotype D is highly prevalent. The mechanisms underlying the effect of HBV genotype are being studied in a new clinical trial.
TL;DRIn conclusion, NASVAC seems to be a better alternative to Peg-IFN, especially in patients with HBV genotype-D patients, which reflects the attractiveness ofNASVAC in countries where genotype D is highly prevalent. (Semantic Scholar)