Clinical utility of hepatitis B surface antigen kinetics in treatment-naïve chronic hepatitis B patients during long-term entecavir therapy

Table 1 Clinical characteristics of enrolled patients, categorized by HBeAg status n (%)

Characteristics	Total (n = 211)	HBeAg-positive (n = 62)	HBeAg-negative (n = 149)	P value1
Age (yr)	50.4 ± 11.9	43.8 ± 12.2	53.2 ± 10.6	< 0.0001
Male	147 (69.7)	39 (63.0)	108 (72.5)	0.170
Treatment time (yr)	5.24 (2.00-9.62)	4.39 (2.11-9.62)	5.35 (2.00-9.58)	0.590
Cirrhosis	66 (31.3)	12 (19.4)	54 (36.2)	0.016
HCC2	32 (15.2)	5 (8.1)	27 (18.1)	0.060
HBV genotype3	101:86:2 (53.4%:45.5%:1.1%)	21:39:01	80:47:01	0.001
B:C:B + C		(34.4%:63.9%:1.6%)	(62.5%:36.7%:0.8%)
ALT (× ULN)	4.12 ± 5.88	4.42 ± 6.62	3.99 ± 5.56	0.630
HBV DNA (log IU/mL)	5.84 ± 1.70	7.24 ± 1.39	5.26 ± 1.50	< 0.0001
HBsAg (log IU/mL)	3.15 ± 0.80	3.80 ± 0.71	2.89 ± 0.67	< 0.0001

Continuous variables are expressed as mean ± SD, except treatment time, which is expressed as median (range). Categorical variables are expressed as numbers (percentages).

¹P value represents HBeAg-positive patients compared with HBeAg-negative patients;

²HCC diagnosed before or within half a year of entecavir therapy;

³HBV genotype could not be determined in 1 HBeAg-positive patient and 21 HBeAg-negative patients because of low HBV viral loads in these patients. ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; HBeAg: Hepatitis B e antigen; HBsAg: Hepatitis B surface antigen; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; ULN: Upper limit of normal.