studies

1206A AASLD ABSTRACTS HEPATOLOGY, October, 2015
rienced HBs loss within 3 years after treatment cessation. This
observation demonstrates for the first time that baseline HBsAg
titer might allows identifying patients that could or could not
benefit from PegIFN therapy.
Disclosures:
Nathalie Boyer - Board Membership: MSD, JANSSEN, Gilead, Abbvie; Speaking
and Teaching: BMS
Tarik Asselah - Advisory Committees or Review Panels: AbbVie, Merck, Gilead,
BMS, Roche, Janssen
Patrick Marcellin - Consulting: Roche, Gilead, BMS, Vertex, Novartis, Janssen,
MSD, Abbvie, Alios BioPharma, Idenix, Akron; Grant/Research Support: Roche,
Gilead, BMS, Novartis, Janssen, MSD, Alios BioPharma; Speaking and Teaching:
Roche, Gilead, BMS, Vertex, Novartis, Janssen, MSD, Boehringer, Pfizer,
Abbvie
The following authors have nothing to disclose: Michelle Martinot-Peignoux,
Corinne Castelnau, Nathalie Giuily, Michele Pouteau, Martine Lapalus, Rami
Moucari
2046
Intrahepatic IP-10 expression correlates with plasma
IP-10 levels and is a response marker for HBeAg-positive,
but not HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B patients
treated with peginterferon and adefovir
Sophie Willemse 2 , Louis Jansen 2 , Annikki de Niet 2 , Marjan J. Sinnige
1 , Bart Takkenberg 2 , Joanne Verheij 3 ; 1 Experimental Immunology,
Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, Netherlands;
2 Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Academic Medical Center,
Amsterdam, Netherlands; 3 Pathology, Academic Medical Center,
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Background and aims Interferon-y–inducible protein-10 (IP-10)
is an interferon-stimulated gene that is produced by different
types of cells such as monocytes, neutrophils and hepatocytes.
After binding to its receptor CXCR3, IP-10 functions as a chemotactic
cytokine for T-lymphocytes, monocytes and NK-cells
and induces adhesion of activated memory/effector T-cells.
We aimed to establish if IP-10 expression in liver tissue and
IP-10 levels in plasma of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients
correlated with each other and further to investigate if IP-10
levels could predict treatment outcome in CHB patients treated
with peginterferon and adefovir. Methods A total of 86 CHB
patients (41 HBeAg-positive and 45 HBeAg-negative) received
combination therapy of peginterferon and adefovir for 48
weeks. Combined Response (CR) (HBeAg-negativity, HBV-DNA
≤2,000 IU/mL, and ALT normalization) and non-response (NR)
were assessed at Week 72. Plasma IP-10 levels were measured
at baseline and during treatment at Day 3 (D3) and
Week 1 (W1). Pre-treatment liver biopsies were obtained in
69 of 86 patients, of which 41 were stored in liquid nitrogen,
enabling the analysis of intrahepatic IP-10 expression by
RT-qPCR. Results CR was achieved in 14/41 HBeAg-positive
and 17/45 HBeAg-negative patients. Mean baseline plasma
IP-10 levels were significantly higher in HBeAg-positive patients
with CR than NR (3.20 vs 3.00 log pg/mL p=0.023). This
difference was not observed in HBeAg-negative patients. Baseline
IP-10 levels correlated with ALT-levels in HBeAg-positive
(r0.66 p