Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the patients.
| Total | |
|---|---|
| (n = 122) | |
| Clinical factor | |
| Age (years) | 45 (23–79) |
| Sex (male) | 78 (63.9%) |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 22.3 (14.7–38.9) |
| Cirrhosis | 22 (18.0%) |
| HCC family history ( +) | 11 (9.0%) |
| Previous interferon treatment ( +) | 25 (20.5%) |
| Alcohol consumption ( +) | 17 (13.9%) |
| Cigarette smoking ( +) | 41 (33.6%) |
| Diabetes mellitus ( +) | 7 (5.7%) |
| Fatty liver ( +) | 36 (29.5%) |
| Platelet count (×103/mm3) | 165 (50–403) |
| Aspartate aminotransferase (U/L) | 72 (22–872) |
| Alanine aminotransferase (U/L) | 113 (16–2605) |
| γ-glutamyltransferase (U/L) | 52 (10–474) |
| Total bilirubin (mg/dL) | 0.8 (0.2–31.1) |
| Albumin (g/dL) | 4.1 (2.1–5.0) |
| Prothrombin time (%) | 88 (33–134) |
| α-fetoprotein (ng/mL) | 5.8 (< 2.0–903.8) |
| HBV genotype (A/B/C/D/N.D.) | 3/12/104/1/2 |
| HBeAg positivity | 59 (48.4%) |
| HBsAg (log IU/mL) | 3.53 (-0.85–5.35) |
| HBV-DNA (log copies/mL) | 7.3 (3.1– > 9.1) |
| Precore G1896A | 39 (32.0%) |
| Basic core promoter A1762T/G1764A | 85 (69.7%) |
| Hyaluronic acid (ng/mL) | 71.7 (< 10–1480) |
| Type III procollagen-N-peptide (U/mL) | 0.9 (0.4–3.9) |
| Type IV collagen (ng/mL) | 179 (88–695) |
| M2BPGi (C.O.I) | 1.25 (0.24–12.29) |
| AST to platelet ratio index | 1.45 (0.26–26.16) |
| Fibrosis-4 index | 2.11 (0.54–12.16) |
| Treatment duration (years) | 6.2 (1.1–13.3) |
| Soluble immune checkpoint proteins | |
| sBTLA (pg/mL) | 92.36 (4.88–7379.58) |
| sCD27 (pg/mL) | 2240.59 (275.77–90,205.76) |
| sCD28 (pg/mL) | 1829.45 (452.34–40,812.96) |
| sTIM-3 (pg/mL) | 3182.68 (22.39–26,629.55) |
| sHVEM (pg/mL) | 2806.94 (514.79–34,673.87) |
| sCD40 (pg/mL) | 482.43 (217.88–14,447.65) |
| sGITR (pg/mL) | 0.49 (0.49–1195.54) |
| sLAG-3 (pg/mL) | 10,062.07 (870.17–101,198.27) |
| sTLR-2 (pg/mL) | 337.92 (131.75–8434.07) |
| sGITRL (pg/mL) | 26.67 (2.441–1233.55) |
| sPD-1 (pg/mL) | 523.72 (131.95–6310.53) |
| sCTLA-4 (pg/mL) | 14.46 (2.84–301.54) |
| sCD80 (pg/mL) | 12.18 (1.22–4117.63) |
| sCD86 (pg/mL) | 334.07 (56.92–6589.98) |
| sPD-L1 (pg/mL) | 23.23 (1.64–550.01) |
| sICOS (pg/mL) | 89.96 (4.88–3717.92) |
The values are medians (with ranges) or numbers (with percentages).
HBV, hepatitis B virus; N.D., not determined; HBeAg, hepatitis B e antigen; HBsAg, hepatitis B surface antigen; sBTLA, soluble B- and T-lymphocyte attenuator; sCD27, soluble CD27; sCD28, soluble CD28; sTIM-3, soluble T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-3; sHVEM, soluble herpes virus entry mediator; sCD40, soluble CD40; sGITR, soluble glucocorticoid-induced TNFR-related; sLAG-3, soluble lymphocyte-activation gene 3; sTLR-2, soluble toll-like receptor 2; sGITRL, soluble glucocorticoid-induced TNFR-related ligand; sPD-1, soluble programmed cell death-1; sCTLA-4, soluble cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated antigen 4; sCD80, soluble CD80; sCD86, soluble CD86; sPD-L1, soluble programmed cell death-ligand 1; sICOS, soluble inducible T-cell co-stimulator.