1.Influencing factors for low-level viremia and their dynamic changes in patients with chronic hepatitis B treated with nucleos(t)ide analogues for the first time
Qiqi CHENG ; Lixia YANG ; Tianpan CAI ; Liang WANG ; Jun SUN ; Jiayuan LIANG ; Liping LIU ; Xia GAN ; Ninghang RUAN ; Shanfei GE
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2022;38(12):2716-2722
Objective To investigate the influencing factors for low-level viremia (LLV) and their dynamic changes in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients treated with nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) for the first time. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for 78 CHB patients who attended Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, from November 2020 to March 2022 and received antiviral therapy with NAs for at least 12 months, and according to HBV DNA level during treatment, they were divided into sustained virologic response (SVR) group with 58 patients and LLV group with 20 patients. The independent samples t -test or the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups, and the chi-square test or the Fisher's exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. The multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the independent influencing factors for LLV and establish a predictive model, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of this model. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze cumulative HBV DNA negative conversion rate, and the Log-rank test was used for comparison. The analysis of variance with repeated measures was used to analyze the differences in HBV DNA and HBsAg between the two groups or within each group at weeks 0, 12, 24, 36, and 48. Results Compare with the SVR group, the LLV group had significantly higher HBeAg positive rate (90.0% vs 48.3%, χ 2 =10.701, P =0.001), log(HBV DNA) value (7.26±1.46 vs 5.65±1.70, t =-4.178, P < 0.001), and log(HBsAg) value (4.53±0.86 vs 3.44±0.93, t =-4.813, P < 0.001) and significantly lower age [29 (26-34) vs 33 (30-43), Z =-2.751, P =0.009], alanine aminotransferase (ALT) [67.0 (54.0-122.0)U/L vs 111.0 (47.0-406.0)U/L, Z =-2.203, P =0.028], aspartate aminotransferase [43.5 (32.8-62.8) U/L vs 77.5 (35.0-213.0)U/L, Z =-2.466, P =0.014], and liver stiffness measurement [7.7 (6.3-8.5)kPa vs 8.9 (7.2-11.4)kPa, Z =-2.022, P =0.043]. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that baseline HBV DNA (odds ratio [ OR ]=2.365, 95% confidence interval [ CI ]: 1.220-4.587, P =0.011), HBsAg ( OR =4.229, 95% CI : 1.098-16.287, P =0.036), and ALT ( OR =0.965, 95% CI : 0.937-0.994, P =0.018) were independent influencing factors for LLV in CHB patients, and the predictive model of Logit(MLLV)=-8.668+1.441×lgHBsAg+0.598×lgHBV DNA-0.016×ALT was established based on these factors, which had a larger area under the ROC curve than HBV DNA, HBsAg, and ALT (0.931 vs 0.774/0.856/0.666), with a sensitivity of 85.00% and a specificity of 93.10% at the optimal cut-off value of 0.44. The CHB patients with baseline HBV DNA > 7.29 lgIU/mL or HBsAg > 4.38 lgIU/mL had a significantly lower DNA negative conversion rate than those with DNA ≤7.29 lgIU/mL or HBsAg ≤4.38 lgIU/mL ( χ 2 =22.52 and 26.35, both P < 0.001). In the CHB patients, the highest reduction rates of HBV DNA and HBsAg were observed at weeks 12 and 24, respectively, and the LLV group had significantly higher levels of HBV DNA and HBsAg than the SVR group at weeks 0, 12, 24, 36, and 48 (HBV DNA: t =-4.084, -4.526, -5.688, -7.123, and -6.266, all P < 0.001; HBsAg: t =-4.652, -4.691, -4.952, -4.804, and -4.407, all P < 0.001). Conclusion For the CHB patients treated with NAs for the first time, those with high HBV DNA load, high HBsAg quantification, and low ALT level at baseline are more likely to develop LLV, and dynamic monitoring of these indices is of great significance to observe the onset of LLV.