Abstract: Objectiv To investigate the predictive factors of response to interferon-α（IFN-α） antiviral therapy in children with chronic hepatitis B （CHB）. Methods 70 children with CHB were recruited in our hospital between March 2013 and March 2016,and were randomly divided into IFN-α-treated （n=40） and thymopeptide-treated group （n=30）. All patients were treated for six months. Serum alanine aminotransferase （ALT） normalization rates,the negative rates of serum HBeAg and the negative rates of serum hepatitis B virus deoxyribonucleic acid（HBV DNA） were compared between the two groups. Results At the end of the regimen,serum ALT normalization rate in IFN-α-treated group was 97.5%,not significantly different compared to 93.3% in thymopeptide-treated group （P>0.05）,while serum HBeAg negativity rate was 40.0% and serum HBV DNA loss was 77.5%,both much higher than 10.0% and 3.3% （x²=7.802,x²=37.998,P<0.05） in thymopeptide-treated group;our further analysis about the response of IFN-αshowed that serum HBeAg and HBV DNA negativity rates in 30 children with serum ALT levels greater than 200 u/l were 46.7% and 43.3%,significantly higher than 10.0% and 10.0% （P<0.05） in 10 children with serum ALT levels less than <200 U/L;serum HBeAg and HBV DNA negativity rates in 32 children older than 5 years were 53.1% and 50.0%,significantly higher than 12.5% and 12.5%,respectively（P<0.05） in 8 children younger than 5 years;serum HBeAg and HBV DNA negativity rates in 31 children with serum HBV DNA levels greater than <6 lg copies/ml were 54.8% and 61.3%,significantly higher than 11.1% and 22.2%,respectively（P<0.05） in 9 children with serum HBV DNA levels greater than 6 lg copies/ml,while serum HBeAg and HBV DNA negativity rates in 21 boy were 33.3% and 28.6%,not significantly different compared to 47.4% and 47.4%,respectively（P>0.05） in 19 girls,and serum HBeAg and HBV DNA negativity rates in 5 children with less than one year illness period were 80.0% and 60.0%,not significantly different compared to 45.7% and 48.5%,respectively （P>0.05） in 35 children with disease period longer than one year. Conclusion IFN-α is in short-term effective for the treatment of children with CHB, but the incidence of adverse reactions are common,which warrants further investigation.

Key words: Chronic hepatitis B, Interferon α, Response, Predictive factors, Children