Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the 115 chronic hepatitis B patients.
| All patients n = 115 | HbeAg-positive n = 48 (41.7%) | HbeAg-negative n = 67 (58.3%) | p value | |
| Age (years) | 45±13 | 38±11 | 50±12 | <0.01 |
| Male sex, n (%) | 84 (73) | 31 (64.6) | 53 (79.1) | 0.13 |
| Active hepatitis, n (%)* | 67 (58.3) | 31 (64.6) | 36 (53.7) | 0.33 |
| Genotype A/B/C, n (%) | 4/74/37 (3.5/64.3/32.2) | 0/26/22 (0/54.2/45.8) | 4/48/15 (6/71.6/22.4) | <0.01 |
| Basal core promoter mutation, n (%) | 39 (34.2) | 15 (31.9) | 24 (35.8) | 0.82 |
| Precore mutation, n (%) | 55 (47.8) | 15 (31.3) | 40 (59.7) | <0.01 |
| HBV DNA (Log10 IU/mL) | 6.52±1.36 | 7.39±0.98 | 5.90±1.26 | <0.01 |
| HBsAg (Log10 IU/mL) | 3.49 (1.39–5.46) | 4.00 (2.05–5.46) | 3.14 (1.39–4.87) | <0.01 |
| IP-10 (pg/mL) | 78.6 (13.9–2078) | 97.3 (19.1–2078) | 65.4 (13.9–1301.7) | <0.01 |
| ALT (U/L) | 211±169 | 235±161 | 194±174 | 0.06 |
| AST (U/L) | 120±117 | 130±121 | 112±114 | 0.24 |
| IL28B polymorphisms | ||||
| rs8105790 TT/CT + CC, n (%) | 98/13 (88.3/11.7) | 39/7 (84.8/15.2) | 59/6 (90.8/9.2) | 0.51 |
| rs12979860 CC/CT + TT, n (%) | 97/14 (87.4/12.6) | 39/7 (84.8/15.2) | 58/7 (89.2/10.8) | 0.69 |
| rs8099917 TT/GT + GG, n (%) | 99/13 (88.4/11.6) | 39/7 (84.8/15.2) | 60/6 (90.9/9.1) | 0.49 |
| rs10853728 CC/CG + GG, n (%) | 78/32 (70.9/29.1) | 33/13 (71.7/28.3) | 45/19 (70.3/29.7) | 1.00 |
Abbreviations: HBeAg, hepatitis B e antigen; HBsAg, hepatitis B surface antigen; IP-10, interferon-gamma inducible protein 10; ALT, alanine transaminase; AST, aspartate transaminase.
*
Active hepatitis was defined as persistent ALT >2× upper limit of normal (ULN) or a peak ALT level >5× ULN.