Is leptin a predictive factor in the end of therapy response in chronic hepatitis B?

The purpose of this study was to determine the leptin levels in children with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, and to evaluate the effect of serum leptin levels on the end of therapy response (ETR). It is known that leptin stimulates T-cell immunity and so T-cell mediated immune response is critical in the outcome of chronic HBV infection.

Leptin levels in children with chronic HBV infection were investigated and its effects on the ETR in 24 children who were treated with interferon-alpha and lamivudine combination therapy were evaluated.

The mean leptin level of the patients was higher than that of healthy children (P = 0.034). Of the patients, seven (29.2%) had ETR. The mean hepatic activity index and portal inflammation score were higher, the HBV DNA was lower, and the leptin level was similar in children with ETR when compared to others (P = 0.017, P = 0.04, P = 0.007, P = 0.34, respectively). HBV DNA and the fibrosis score were positively correlated (P = 0.016).

Although the higher leptin value observed in children with ETR was not statistically significant, because of close interactions between leptin, cytokines and lymphocytes, it is thought that leptin should be investigated as a predictive factor of ETR in further studies.