Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Combined effects of tenofovir and interferon ^5;1b on viral load and levels of peripheral regulatory T cells in chronic hepatitis B subjects

Wanfeng Wu, Chengting Jiang, Cheng Cheng, Yihang Sun⁴, Ning Luo, Jinwen Ge

School of the Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha City, China;

For correspondence:- Jinwen Ge Email: zq1292@163.com

Accepted: 18 March 2019 Published: 30 April 2019

Citation: Wu W, Jiang C, Cheng C, Sun Y, Luo N, Ge J. Combined effects of tenofovir and interferon ^5;1b on viral load and levels of peripheral regulatory T cells in chronic hepatitis B subjects. Trop J Pharm Res 2019; 18(4):863-868 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v18i4.26

© 2019 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To study the combined effects of tenofovir and interferon α1b on viral load and peripheral blood regulatory T cell concentrations of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) subjects.

Methods: Patients with chronic hepatitis B (86 cases) were randomly assigned to two groups: control group and study group. In control subjects, tenofovir was given orally (300 mg/kg bwt/day). In addition to tenofovir, the study group received interferon α1b injection intramuscularly at a dose of 50 μg/kg thrice a week. Liver function, serum hepatitis B viral (HBV) load, and serum levels of peripheral blood regulatory T-lymphocytes were determined. Clinical effectiveness and adverse reactions in both groups were also assessed.

Results: After treatment, total effectiveness was higher in the study group (86.04 %) than in control patients (62.79 %) (p < 0.05). Serum aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and total bilirubin (TBIL) significantly decreased in the study group, relative to control, but HBV DNA-negative, HbeAg-negative and HbsAg-negative cells were markedly higher in patients in the study group (p < 0.05). Moreover, there were higher CD4⁺T and CD8⁺T counts, and CD4⁺T/CD8⁺T ratio in study subjects than in control subjects (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The combination of tenofovir with interferon α1b effectively improves liver functions in patients with CHB, reduces viral load, and exerts anti-HBV effect by regulating the levels of peripheral blood T-lymphocytes.

Keywords: Tenofovir, Interferon ^5;1b, Chronic hepatitis B, Viral load, Peripheral blood regulatory T cells