Impact of viral replication inhibition by entecavir on peripheral T lymphocyte subpopulations in chronic hepatitis B patients

Table 2 Response to treatment during entecavir therapy (n = 55) *

	Response to treatment over time (weeks)
	pre (baseline)	2^nd	4^th	12^th	16^th	24^th	48^th
HBVDNA-negation^†	0	8 (14.5)	13 (23.6)	17 (30.9)	21 (38.2)	28 (50.9)	43 (78.2)^g
HBeAg-negation^†	0	0	0	3 (5.5)	3 (5.5)	6 (10.9)	9 (16.4)^h
HBeAg/HBeAb seroconversion^†	0	0	0	1 (1.8)	2 (3.6)	4 (7.3)	8 (14.5)
ALT normalization^†	0	0	7 (12.7)	31 (56.4)	39(70.9)	47 (85.5)	46 (83.6)
ALT normal/HBeAg & HBVDNA-negation^†	0	0	0	3 (5.5)	3 (5.5)	6 (10.9)	8 (14.5)
HBV DNA (Log, copies/mL) ^‡	7.9 ± 1.1	5.1 ± 1.21^d	4.6 ± 1.3^d	3.8 ± 0.9^d	3.6 ± 0.8^d	3.3 ± 0.7^d	2.9 ± 0.5^df
T-lymphocyte subpopulations (percentage) ^‡
CD3⁺T-lymphocyte	45.1 ± 9.0	45.3 ± 8.9	45.4 ± 8.9	47.4 ± 8.6	48.2 ± 8.7^a	50.6 ± 8.4^c	54.9 ± 7.9^df
CD4⁺T-lymphocyte	28.1 ± 5.7	28.2 ± 5.5	28.4 ± 5.6	30.6 ± 5.1^b	31.7 ± 5.4^c	33.6 ± 4.6^d	36.5 ± 3.7^dg
CD8⁺T-lymphocyte	40.0 ± 6.7	39.9 ± 7.1	39.8 ± 7.0	36.7 ± 6.6^b	35.4 ± 6.2^c	32.8 ± 6.2^d	28.9 ± 28.9^dg
CD4⁺/CD8⁺T-lymphocyte ratio	0.7 ± 0.2	0.7 ± 0.2	0.8 ± 0.2	0.9 ± 0.3^b	0.9 ± 0.3^d	1.1 ± 0.3^d	1.3 ± 0.3^dh
Biochemichal measurements ^‡
Serum ALT level (IU/L)	251.4 ± 66.1	101.6 ± 43.4^d	75.7 ± 23.4^d	42.6 ± 15.8^d	40.5 ± 15.0^d	37.0 ± 13.32^d	32.9 ± 6.5^df
Serum AST level (IU/L)	195.7 ± 81.6	73.9 ± 62.3^d	57.6 ± 18.9^d	39.5 ± 14.0^d	38.2 ± 14.5^d	35.7 ± 8.1^d	29.9 ± 4.7^dh
Serum total bilirubin level (μmol/mL)	26.7 ± 18.1	11.0 ± 4.9^d	10.9 ± 4.1^d	10.7 ± 3.9^d	10.9 ± 4.1^d	10.3 ± 3.4^d	9.6 ± 3.1^d

*ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; Normal values: ALT, ≤40 IU/L; AST, ≤40 IU/L; total bilirubin ≤17.1 μmol/mL; CD3⁺T, 61.1~77.0; CD4⁺T, 25.8~41.6; CD8⁺T, 18.1~29.6; CD4⁺/CD8⁺T ratio, 1.57~2.93.
† Date are expressed as no. (%);
‡ Data are expressed as mean ± SD.
^ap < 0.05, ^bp < 0.01, ^cp < 0.001, ^dp < 0.0001 vs pre;
^fp < 0.01, ^gp < 0.001, ^hp < 0.0001 vs 24^th.

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