Chronic Hepatitis B Virus

Natural Killer (NK) and B cell immune responses occur during the early stages of infection and are essential to eradicate it. Yet, chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection occurs because the antiviral immune response is insufficient. In both NK and B cell studies we will explore the genetic alterations that occur during the varied chronic stages of the disease. We believe that our findings will allow us to understand the molecular signature of NK and B cells in the context of HBV infection.

In this study, comparisons will be made between the treatment group (which will receive pegylated interferon alfa-2b treatment) and the observation group (which will receive no drug treatment or be treated with nucleos(t)ide analogs). The primary objectives are to address the following questions: compare the efficacy evaluation indicators (with clinical cure rate as the primary one) between the pegylated interferon alfa-2b treatment group and the observation group; assess whether pegylated interferon alfa-2b treatment improves the clinical cure rate in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection aged 3 years and above but under 18 years (adolescents and children); and explore optimized antiviral treatment regimens for adolescents and children with chronic HBV infection. The secondary objectives are to address the following questions: compare the immune response characteristics between adolescents and children with chronic HBV infection who achieved functional cure after pegylated interferon alfa-2b treatment and those who did not; investigate the immune mechanism underlying the achievement of functional cure in adolescents and children with chronic HBV infection treated with pegylated interferon alfa-2b; and identify plasma markers associated with treatment efficacy for predicting therapeutic outcomes.