Abstract: Objective This study was conducted to observe the virologic and biochemical response to entecavir and interferon-α(IFN-α) combination therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Methods 69 patients with CHB were enrolled in our hospital between May 2019 and March 2022, and they were divided randomly into group A (n=35) and group B (n=34), receiving entecavir and FN-α combination or entecavir alone therapy for 12 months. Serum HBV DNA loads were detected by fluorescence quantitative PCR, and serum hyaluronic acid (HA), laminin (LN), collagen IV (CIV) and procollagen III (PIIIP) levels were detected by radioimmunoassay. Serum human pygopus homolog 2 (Pygo2), nuclear transcription factor κB (NF-κB), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results At the end of six and twelve month treatment, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) normalization rates in group A were 88.6% and 94.3%, both significantly higher than 67.6% and 73.5%(P＜0.05) in group B, while there was no significant difference as respect to serum HBV DNA loss (91.4% vs. 91.2, and 97.1% vs. 91.2%, respectively, P>0.05) between the two groups; at the end of twelve month treatment, serum ALT and AST levels in group A were (51.4±6.4)U/L and (47.5±5.2)U/L, significantly lower than [(67.7±7.4)U/L and (61.9±6.7)U/L, respectively, P＜0.05] in group B; serum HA and PC-Ⅲ levels in group A were (93.9±21.4)ng/mL and (87.3±15.8)ng/mL, significantly lower than [(125.3±24.3)ng/mL and (108.9±14.7) ng/mL, respectively, P＜0.05] in group B; serum NF-kB, TGF-β and Pygo2 levels in group A were (1.1±0.3)pg/mL, (3.4±1.1)pg/mL and (41.9±4.6)μg/L, all significantly lower than [(1.6±0.4)pg/mL,(4.3±1.3)pg/mL and (54.6±5.2)μg/L, respectively, P<0.05] in group B. Conclusion In clinical practice, the combination of entecavir and IFN-α treatment in dealing with patients with CHB could alleviate liver function injury, decrease serum liver fibrosis index and reduce inflammatory reaction, and have a good short-term efficacy.

Key words: Hepatitis B, Entecavir, Interferon-α, Cytokines, Therapy