Effect of Hepatitis B Virus Genotypes and Viral Load on the Response of Patients Treated with Peginterferon-α-2a

Objectives: Present study was aimed to find out the influence of genotype and hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA on the treatment response of the patients with chronic HBV. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional, retrospective study carried out on patients undergoing treatment of chronic HBV. A total of 54 patients with chronic HBV, who were under treatment with peginterferon-alpha-2a, were included. Effects of genotypes and other factors on virologic response, combined response and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) clearance were analyzed with logistic regression and chi square test. Results: Baseline viral load and HBV genotype were found to have significant influence on the patients' response. Patients with genotype A were found to responde more to the treatment than patients with mix genotype infection (A + D). However, this difference was only significant for virologic response. Patients with low (<20,000 IU/mL) baseline viral load showed higher rate of virologic response, combined response and HBsAg clearance than those with high (>20,000 IU/mL) viral load at baseline. Conclusion: Peginterferon-alpha-2a therapy is more efficacious in mono-infected HBV patients either with genotype A or D than patients with mix genotypes (A + D). Moreover, patients with low viral load at baseline have a higher response rate than the patients with high viral load at baseline.