SynthesisFrontiers in immunology2021
Pegylated Interferon Treatment for the Effective Clearance of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen in Inactive HBsAg Carriers: A Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in immunology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- APASL clinical practice guidelines on the management of chronic hepatitis B infection: a 2026 update.Hepatology international · 2026Guideline
- [Chinese expert consensus on clinical practice of chronic hepatitis B functional (clinical) cure].Zhonghua gan zang bing za zhi = Zhonghua ganzangbing zazhi = Chinese journal of hepatology · 2025Guideline
- Systematic review and meta-analysis:Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Short-term pegylated interferon alpha in chronic HBV patients with ultra-low HBsAg: a retrospective study.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Trial
- HBV-miR-3 is closely related to HBV replication and strongly predictive of HBeAg seroconversion in PegIFN-α treated patients.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- [APASL clinical practice guidelines on the management of chronic hepatitis B infection: a 2026 update].Zhonghua gan zang bing za zhi = Zhonghua ganzangbing zazhi = Chinese journal of hepatology · 2026Article
- Pegylated Interferon-based Treatment Improves Response Rates in Immune-tolerant Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B: A Prospective Trial.Journal of clinical and translational hepatology · 2026Article
- Altered expression of MX2 and SAMD4A in PBMCs predicts early treatment responses in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B patients during Peg-IFN-α therapy.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Efficacy of pegylated interferon alpha in treating postpartum women with chronic hepatitis B virus infection: a multicenter prospective study.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Do the therapeutic vaccines hold hope for the treatment of hepatitis B?Hepatology international · 2025Review
- Machine learning prediction of rapid HBsAg seroclearance at week 24 in inactive carriers treated with pegylated interferon.Hepatology international · 2025Article
- Machine learning model for HBsAg seroclearance after 48-week pegylated interferon therapy in inactive HBsAg carriers: a retrospective study.Virology journal · 2025Article
- Predictors of low-level viremia in chronic hepatitis B and the efficacy of pegylated interferon-alpha: a real-world study.Virology journal · 2025Article
- Hepatitis B functional cure: Current and future perspective.World journal of hepatology · 2025Review
- [Analysis of liver histological characteristics and clinically related factors in patients with inactive HBsAg carriers].Zhonghua gan zang bing za zhi = Zhonghua ganzangbing zazhi = Chinese journal of hepatology · 2025Article
- Targeting HBV with RNA interference: Paths to cure.Science translational medicine · 2025Review
- Serum ferritin as a predictive biomarker for PEG IFNα-2b efficacy in chronic hepatitis B treatment.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Article
- [A clinically cured case of chronic hepatitis B].Zhonghua gan zang bing za zhi = Zhonghua ganzangbing zazhi = Chinese journal of hepatology · 2024Article
- Efficacy of short-term Peg-IFN α-2b treatment in chronic hepatitis B patients with ultra-low HBsAg levels: a retrospective cohort study.Virology journal · 2024Article
- Hepatitis B cure: Current situation and prospects.World journal of hepatology · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Expanding antiviral therapy to benefit more populations and optimizing treatment to improve prognoses are two main objectives in current guidelines on antiviral therapy. However, the guidelines do not recommend antiviral therapy for inactive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriers (IHCs). Recent studies have shown that antiviral therapy is effective with good treatment outcomes in IHC populations. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of HBsAg clearance and conversion in IHCs. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Medline, and Web of Science to retrieve articles on HBsAg clearance in IHCs published between January 2000 and August 2021. Data were collected and analysed using the random-effects model for meta-analysis. Results: A total of 1029 IHCs from 11 studies were included in this analysis. The overall HBsAg clearance rate was 47% (95% confidence interval (CI): 31% - 64%), with a conversion rate of 26% (95% CI: 15% - 38%) after 48 weeks of Pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN) treatment. In the control group (including nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) treatment or no treatment), the overall HBsAg clearance rate was only 1.54% (95% CI: 0.56% - 3.00%), which was markedly lower than that in the Peg-IFN group. Further analysis showed that a low baseline HBsAg level and long treatment duration contributed to a higher HBsAg clearance rate. Conclusion: This study showed that treatment of IHCs can be considered to achieve a clinical cure for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. After Peg-IFN treatment, the HBsAg clearance rate was 47%, and the conversion rate was 26%, which are markedly higher than those reported by previous studies on Peg-IFN treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). A low baseline HBsAg level and long treatment duration were associated with HBsAg clearance in IHCs. Therefore, antiviral therapy is applicable for IHCs, a population who may be clinically cured. Systematic Review Registration: http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO, CRD): CRD42021259889.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.