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Hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) loss and, ultimately, seroconversion to hepatitis B surface antibodies might be the only indicator of true clearance of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in chronically infected patients. Pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) alfa-2a–based therapy can induce HBsAg seroconversion in some hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative patients. Now two groups of researchers have examined the usefulness of HBsAg levels during and after HBV therapy as predictors of treatment response to PEG-IFN.
Moucari and colleagues prospectively evaluated 48 patients with HBeAg-negative HBV infections who received PEG-IFN (180 µg weekly) for 48 weeks. HBsAg levels were measured at baseline, during treatment (weeks 12, 24, and 48), and during …