Serum proteins in chronic hepatitis B patients treated with peginterferon alfa-2b

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the patients used for screening the biomarkers before initiating chronic hepatitis B therapy (mean ± SE)

	Sustained virological	Non-responders	P value
	responders (n = 9)	(n = 10)
Age (yr)	29.67 ± 8.29	36.90 ± 6.40	0.047
Sex (male:female)	7:2	8:2	0.912
ALT level (U/L)	103.88 ± 105.04	130.50 ± 75.77	0.609
HBV DNA (copies/mL)	(11.07 ± 8.52) × 106	(14.35 ± 8.44) × 106	0.511
HBeAg	Positive	Positive	NS

HBV: Hepatitis B virus; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; HBeAg: Hepatitis B e antigen; NS: Not significant.

Table 2 Proteins found to be significantly different between the sustained responders and non-responders before initiating peginterferon-Interferon alfa-2b treatment

Spot	Protein	NCBI ID	MS score	%cov	pI	MW	Relative intensity (mean ± SE)		SVR/NR	P value
							SVR	NR
Protease inhibitor
97	Chain A, alpha-1-antitrypsin	Gi|157831596	399	64	5.37	44.28	0.2764 ± 0.0327	0.4275 ± 0.0609	2.34	0.038
Transport protein and protein binding
33	Albumin, isoform	Gi|119626065	539	38	6.96	61.12	0.0330 ± 0.0121	0.0764 ± 0.0144	2.31	0.033
146	Albumin	Gi|332356380	243	41	5.73	68.48	0.0602 ± 0.0182	0.1516 ± 0.0333	2.52	0.024
Acute phase protein
309	Alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein	Gi|112910	507	40	5.43	40.09	0.7165 ± 0.0238	0.4782 ± 0.0851	0.67	0.012
Immunity protection
59	Chain C, human complement C3c	Gi|78101271	513	70	4.79	40.20	0.3969 ± 0.0391	0.2675 ± 0.0403	0.67	0.034
145	CD5 antigen-like precursor	Gi|5174411	443	67	5.28	39.60	0.1086 ± 0.0192	0.1903 ± 0.0197	1.75	0.009
Lipid metabolism
17	Chain A, crystal structure of lipid-free human apoliprotein A-I	Gi|90108664	1347	78	5.27	28.06	9.4993 ± 0.5044	6.0364 ± 1.0047	0.64	0.005

SVR: Sustained virological response; NR: Non-responder.

Table 3 Baseline characteristics of the patients in the validation phase and at 24 wk of treatment (mean ± SE)

	Sustained virological responders	Non-responders	P value
Validation phase	(n = 9)	(n = 14)
Age (yr)	29.56 ± 2.78	37.71 ± 1.97	0.023
Sex (male:female)	7:2	11:3	0.966
ALT level (U/L)	106.88 ± 36.26	130.50 ± 30.93	0.644
HBV DNA (copies/mL)	(11.06 ± 2.84) × 106	(13.12 ± 2.45) × 106	0.593
HBeAg	Positive	Positive	NS
24 wk	(n = 3)	(n = 3)
Age (yr)	29.33 ± 6.89	35.67 ± 6.06	NS
Sex (male:female)	Male	Male	NS
ALT level (U/L)	52.33 ± 13.78	253.67 ± 187.74	NS
HBV DNA (copies/mL)	(6.70 ± 6.65) × 106	(13.65 ± 6.35) × 106	NS
HBeAg	Positive	Positive	NS

HBV: Hepatitis B virus; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; HBeAg: Hepatitis B e antigen; NS: Not significant.

Table 4 Serum levels of proteins after 24 wk of treatment in the sustained virological responders and non-responders

Spot	Protein Name	NCBI ID	MW/pI	No. of match peptide	MS score	Fold change	∆ relative intensity	Biological function
Sustained virological response
38	Proapolipoprotein	Gi|178775	28.94/5.50	63	798	↑ 5.17	0.1525a	Cholesterolmetabolism
26	Chain A, the structure of pentameric human serum amyloid P	Gi|576259	23.36/6.12	12	174	↑ 6.65	0.0783a	Acute phase protein
86	Alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein	Gi|112910	40.098/5.43	32	494	↑ 2.39	0.3773a
309	Alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein	Gi|112910	40.09/5.43	29	507	↑ 2.04	0.4987a
171	Chain A, the intact and cleaved III complex as a model for serpin-proteinase interaction	Gi|999513	49.35/5.95	37	396	↑ 9.66	0.1481b
173	Chain A, the intact and cleaved III complex as a model for serpin-proteinase interaction	Gi|999513	49.35/5.95	26	210	↑ 8.01	0.0694a	Protease inhibitor
149	Serotransferin precursor	Gi|4557871	79.28/6.81	58	650	↑ 3.43	0.1165a
201	PRO2619	Gi|11493459	58.51/5.96	36	278	↑ 4.95	0.0594a	Transport protein and proteinbinding
207	Albumin	Gi|332356380	68.48/5.73	48	781	↑ 6.97	0.1653a
280	Albumin	Gi|332356380	68.48/5.73	31	201	↑ 7.33	0.1206a
202	CD5 antigen-like precursor	Gi|5174411	39.60/5.28	11	70	↑ absent at baseline	0.0348a
229	Ig J-chain	Gi|532598	16.04/4.62	3	42	↑ absent at baseline	0.0923b	Immunity protection
299	Immunoglobulin light	Gi|218783338	24.16/5.95	26	747	↑ absent at base line	0.1709b
Non-responder
20	Proapolipoprotein	Gi|178775	28.94/5.45	63	798	↑ absent at base line	0.2383b	Cholesterol metabolism
171	Chain A, the intact and cleaved III complex as a model for serpine-proteinase interaction	Gi|999513	49.35/5.95	37	396	↑ 2.39	0.0896a	Acute phase protein
4	Albumin isoform	Gi|119626066	27.67/6.39	20	660	↓ 0.04	-0.2832a	Transport protein and protein binding
264	Serum albumin	Gi|62113341	71.09/5.85	21	115	↓ absent at 24 wk	-0.1196a
123	Alpha-1-B-glycoprotein	Gi|69990	52.47/5.69	27	247	↑ 1.38	0.1610a	Serum protein
310	Alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein	Gi|112910	40.09/5.43	30	475	↓ 0.46	-0.4119a	Acute phase protein

Relative intensity, [(volume of spot/volume of all the spots in the gel) × 100].

^aP < 0.05,

^bP < 0.01 vs relative intensity.