Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the corrlation of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) galectin-3 levels in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) receiving interferon-α therapy. Methods 106 patients with CHB were enrolled in our hospital for treatment between December 2016 and December 2019, and all patients with CHB were treated with peginterferon α-2a (peg-IFN-α-2a) for 48 weeks and followed-up for 24 weeks. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated, and relative galectin-3 levels were detected by PCR and Western bloting. Results At the end of 24 week treatment, 27 patients (22.6%)got complete response, and at the end of 48 week treatment, 44 patients (67.0%) responded to anti-viral therapy; at presentation, serum AST, ALT and HBV DNA levels in patients responded at 24 week were(122.8±98.2)U/L,(108.1±51.1)U/L and (6.3±0.6)lg copies/ml, not significantly different compared to (124.2±94.7)U/L, (113.1±47.3)U/L and (6.5±0.8)lg copies/ml in patients responded at 48 week, and also not significantly different compared to (121.9±97.4)U/L, (96.1±56.4)U/L and (6.8±0.9)lg copies/ml in non-responders (P>0.05); the PBMC galectin-3 mRNA level was (3.0±0.5) and its protein level was (1.4±0.2) in patients responded at 24 week, significantly higher than [(1.8±0.4) and (0.9±0.1), respectively, P<0.05] in patients responded at 48 week or [(1.1±0.2) and (0.8±0.1), respectively, P<0.05] in non-responders. Conclusion The galectin-3 levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells is closely related to the response to anti-viral treatment in patients with CHB, and it might predict the outcome of patients with CHB after interferon-α therapy.

Key words: Hepatitis B, Interferon-α, Peripheral blood mononuclear cells, Galectin-3, Response