PMID: 16640101Apr 28, 2006Paper

A multiphase model of the dynamics of HBV infection in HBeAg-negative patients during pegylated interferon-alpha2a, lamivudine and combination therapy

Antiviral Therapy
Piero ColombattoPeginterferon Alfa-2a HBeAg-Negative Chronic Hepatitis B Study Group

Abstract

Using a multiphase bio-mathematical model, we studied the dynamics of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in 72 HBeAg-negative patients who received 48 weeks of either lamivudine (3TC; 25 patients); pegylated interferon-alpha2a (peg-IFN-alpha2a) 180 mg weekly plus 3TC (23 patients), or peg-IFN-alpha2a 180 mg weekly plus placebo (24 patients). During the first month of therapy most of the 3TC -/+ peg-IFN-alpha2a treated patients showed a multiphase decay of viral load: during the first two phases, where we hypothesized a direct inhibition of virus production, the mean viral production per infected cell was reduced by 2.22 log10 and 2.36 log10, respectively. At variance, peg-IFN-alpha2a treated patients had a biphasic profile: the first phase HBV DNA decline was slower than that observed in 3TC patients (mean HBV DNA t(1/2) = 1.6 +/- 1.1 days and 9.5 +/- 3.0 h, respectively) and the direct antiviral effect reduced virus production by 1.14 log10. From day 14 onwards (third or second phase according to multi- or biphasic patterns), HBV DNA declined mainly because of the infected hepatocyte clearance that slowed down in approximately 50% of the patients from day 35, possibly because of a negative feedback on the immune system activity...Continue Reading

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