[Treatment of chronic hepatitis B with interferon alpha-2b]

A total of 58 patients with histologically confirmed chronic viral hepatitis B and presence of HBsAg and HBV-DNA in the serum were randomized in a prospectively controlled trial. 30 patients were treated with 3 megaunits of rIFN a-2b s.c. thrice weekly for 4 months. 28 controls received no treatment. The post-treatment follow-up period consisted of 6 months. 28 patients treated and 27 controls completed the protocol. One female patient of the treatment group showed a complete response (loss of HBsAg, HBeAg and HBV-DNA), 8 other patients (32%) revealed a partial response to therapy (loss of HBeAg and HBV-DNA). Three patients of the control-group (11%) lost HBeAg and HBV-DNA spontaneously. This finding is statistically significant (p less than 0.05). The elimination of HBV-markers from the serum was associated with a normalization of aminotransferase activities in the serum. A reactivation of hepatitis was not observed after seroconversion.