Can interferon therapy help some people with discontinuation needs to safely stop taking the drug?

  Conditions: HBeAg positive chronic hepatitis B (hepatitis B major three) Patient Description and Treatment Expectations: Description: Female, 23 years old; just graduated from college and working, good family economic conditions.  I was found to be HBsAg positive when I donated blood at university, and although I have been stable and not taking any medication, I am still afraid to let others around me know about my condition, and I have a boyfriend who, after learning about the situation, also encourages active treatment.  In recent times, probably due to frequent overtime work, I feel that my body suddenly can not stand it. In the last half of the month, I have been feeling very tired and my appetite is getting worse and worse, and I often have nausea and vomiting.  Expectation of treatment: I hope to be able to achieve a normal life, work, and childbirth by safely stopping the medication through a wired course.  Examination and medication: Diagnosis: Viral hepatitis B chronic moderate.  History: Chronic hepatitis B diagnosed in March 2009, with recurrent abnormal liver function for more than 6 months; no history of antiviral therapy.  Laboratory findings at the time of consultation: virology: HBV DNA 1.15×106copies/mL; serology: HBsAg(+), HBsAb(-), HBeAg(+), HBeAb(-); biochemistry: ALT 342 U/L, AST elevated 153 U/L, γ-GT 198 U/L. Treatment course: The patient was very young, with reproductive needs. No previous history of antiviral therapy, high baseline ALT levels, not very high HBV DNA levels, and an active organism immune response predicted a high rate of sustained response to treatment with pegylated interferon-2a at this time.  After administration of pegylated interferon-2a, HBV DNA was detected below the lower limit of detection at 6 months and liver function was normal; HBeAg serology was converted and HBsAg continued to decline but had not cleared at 1 year of treatment (standard course, i.e., 48 weeks).  Considering the patient’s strong expectation of cure and the more pronounced trend of continued decline in HBsAg quantification during treatment, extended treatment with pegylated interferon-2a was continued to improve the chances of achieving HBsAg clearance and seroconversion.  During the extended treatment, the patient’s HBsAg continued to decline, and HBsAg decreased to 300 IU/mL by 18 months of treatment, and the patient discontinued treatment for personal reasons after 18 months.  After discontinuation of treatment, the patient was followed up for 1 year and all indicators were stable, always maintaining HBeAg serological conversion with low HBsAg levels. The patient is now living, working and socializing normally.  At the beginning of treatment, the patient developed fever and lowered white blood cells, the fever disappeared quickly, the lowered white blood cells persisted, and Ricorun and Berberamine Hydrochloride (ascorbic acid) were applied; there were no other abnormalities, which did not affect the treatment.  According to the 2010 edition of China’s guidelines for the prevention and treatment of chronic hepatitis B, patients with (1) high pre-treatment ALT levels, (2) HBV DNA < 2*108 copies/ml, (3) female, (4) short disease duration, and (5) non-mother-to-child transmission are advantageous patients for the use of long-acting interferon. This group of patients can receive long-acting interferon treatment to obtain high HBeAg serological conversion, and even some patients can achieve HBsAg clearance, the patient is the advantage of long-acting interferon patients, so the preferred treatment is pegylated interferon-2a.  For younger patients with fertility needs, a course of wired therapy can be achieved with long-acting interferon therapy to help them regain the confidence to embrace life.  During long-acting interferon therapy, the efficacy of the treatment is closely monitored through the monitoring of HBsAg quantification. Patients who have a more significant decrease in HBsAg quantification during treatment are expected to have a good outcome and should adhere to the treatment more actively. The patient in this case is expected to achieve HBsAg clearance if he insists on continuous treatment for personal reasons, which is a bit unfortunate, but the indexes did not rebound after stopping the drug, and he should still be followed up closely.