Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the short-term efficacy of entecavir (ETV) and peginterferon-α 2b (Peg-IFN-α 2b) combination in treatment of patients with hepatitis B-induced liver cirrhosis (LC). Methods 40 patients with compensated hepatitis B-induced LC were randomly assigned to the ETV group (control) and 38 to the combination group (observation) between March 2019 and March 2021. After 24 week treatment, all patients in the two groups received ETV continuously and were followed-up for another 24 weeks. The liver function indexes, liver fibrosis indexes, serum HBsAg and HbeAg quantification and HBV DNA loads were routinely measured. Results At the end of 24 week follow-up, serum albumin level in the observation group was (45.7±3.2)g/L, significantly higher than in the control; serum collagen type IV, hyaluronic acid, procollagen Ⅲ peptide and laminin levels in the observation were (154.3±11.7)μg/L, (130.9±17.5)μg/L, (110.6±16.2)μg/L and (152.7±14.3)μg/L, all significantly lower than[(200.7±12.4)μg/L, (161.8±18.7)μg/L, (157.4±17.3)μg/L and (200.9±16.3)μg/L, respectively, P＜0.05] in the control; serum HBsAg level was 1363.8(623.1, 2767.6) IU/ml, much lower than , while serum HBsAg negative rate was 15.8%, much higher than 0.0%(P＜0.05) in the control group. Conclusion The combination of ETV and Peg-IFN-α 2b in the treatment of patients with compensated hepatitis B LC could decrease serum liver fibrosis markers and increase serum HBsAg negative rates, which might delay the progression of the entity.

Key words: Liver cirrhosis, Hepatitis B, Entecavir, Peginterferon-α 2b, Therapy