Clinical and Basic Research of Relationship Between Hepatitis B Virus Quasi-Species Evolution and Function of Natural Killer Cells With Antiviral Therapy Response in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients

Antiviral treatment plays critical role in treatment of chronic HBV infection. Entecavir, an nucleos(t)ide analogs (NA) targeting the viral polymerase, is widely used in China as the first line drug in antiviral treatment for CHB patients. The sustained suppression of serum HBV DNA to undetectable level has been proven to be associated with the prevention of progression of liver disease and inhibition of the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. According to data published, a rate about 70% HBVDNA undetectable could be reached after 1 year therapy. However, the rate of HBsAg loss is very low about 0% to 1%. Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor(GM-CSF) is an important cytokine for the generation and propagation of antigen-presenting cells and for priming a cellular immune response. It increases the production of macrophage precursors and, in turn,enhances the T-helper cell (Th cell)-mediated cytotoxicity and regulates the tumoricidal cytokines. Previous studies indicated that when combined with IFN in patients with chronic HBV infection, it increased the therapeutic efficacy of the latter. Recent studies showed that GM-CSF benefit patients with acute liver failure. In this study, entecavir (ETV) plus GM-CSF would be used in patients with CHB compared to ETV monotherapy. Primary objective of the study is to see if there is significant improvement in HBsAg loss, rates of HBeAg loss and HBV undetectable are also to be observed. Function of NK cell from the patients enrolled will be measured during the therapy.