Auto-antibodies against interferons are common in people living with chronic hepatitis B virus infection and associate with PegIFNα non-response.

ABSTRACT:

Background & aims

Type one (T1) and three interferons (T3IFNs) are implicated in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) immunopathogenesis. IFN remains the only licenced immune modulating therapy for CHB. We measured the prevalence of auto-antibodies (auto-Abs) against T1 and T3IFNs to examine the hypothesis that they impact HBV control and treatment response, as highlighted by COVID-19.

Methods

Our multi-centre retrospective longitudinal study accessed two CHB cohorts; auto-Ab levels and neutralisation status were measured against T1IFN and T3IFN. Associations were tested against HBV clinical parameters.

Results

Overall, 16.7% (46/276) of patients with CHB had any detectable anti-IFN auto-Abs at any time and 6.5% (18/276) anti-T3IFN auto-Abs, with a high incidence of PegIFNα-indu

SUBMITTER: Fink DL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12018104 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature