Long-term kinetics of quantitative HBsAg levels during successful oral antiviral therapy of chronic hepatitis B

The ultimate goal of antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis B virus infection is HBsAg seroconversion. Required treatment durations using nucleos(t)ide analogues to achieving this goal are undefined. HBV persistence despite suppression of HBV-DNA is determined by the amount of intrahepatic cccDNA which is reflected by serum HBsAg levels. We studied 31 patients (mean age 49±11 years) who showed long-term suppression of viral replication during antiviral therapy (HBV-DNA 100 fold HBsAg reduction, respectively. HBsAg responder patients were older (median 55 years vs. 45 years; p=0.02) and had a significantly greate…