Association between serum level of interleukin-17 and HBsAg clearance in patients with HBsAg-negative chronic hepatitis B

Objective To investigate the association between HBsAg clearance and serum level of interleukin- 17( IL- 17) in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B( CHB) patients treated by pegylated interferon( PEG- IFN). Methods A total of 13 HBeAg- negative CHB patients who visited Beijing You An Hospital from January 2012 to January 2015 were enrolled. After the 24- week treatment with PEG-IFN,6 achieved HBsAg clearance( R group) and 7 did not achieve HBsAg clearance( NR group). The Luminex technology was used to measure the serum level of IL- 17 at baseline and weeks 12 and 24 of treatment. Ten healthy controls and 6 patients with acute hepatitis B( AHB) were enrolled and serum level of IL- 17 was measured. An analysis of variance was used for comparison of continuous data between multiple groups,and the SNK- qtest was used for further pairwise comparison; the t- test was used for comparison of continuous data between any two groups; the chi- square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. Results The AHB group had the highest serum level of IL- 17 at baseline,followed by the CHB group and healthy control group,and the serum level of IL- 17 at baseline showed significant differences between the three groups( P < 0. 05). After the PEG- IFN treatment for 24 weeks,HBeAg- negative CHB patients showed a significant reduction in serum level of IL- 17( P = 0. 044). R group had a significantly higher serum level of IL- 17 than NR group and showed a significant reduction in the serum level of IL- 17 after PEG- IFN treatment,while NR group showed no significant increase or reduction in the serum level of IL- 17. Conclusion In the PEG- IFN treatment for HBeAg- negative CHB patients,a high serum level of IL- 17 at baseline and a significant reduction in serum level of IL- 17 helps with HBsAg clearance.