Management of chronic hepatitis B virus infection within a large integrated health care setting: treatment patterns among kaiser permanente members in southern california, 2008-2019

for HBcrAg, Roche Cobas TaqMan system with an inhouse assay for HDV RNA).Results: At baseline, mean HBV RNA levels were 1.71 ± 1.18 log cp/ml and HBV RNA levels were undetectable in 68.8% of patients.During treatment, mean HBV RNA levels did not differ between patients receiving either tenofovir or placebo.When separating between treatment responders (HDV RNA negative at FU24) and nonresponders, mean levels of HBV RNA were significantly lower in responders at treatment week 24, 48 and end of treatment.Accordingly, the proportion of patients with undetectable HBV RNA was significantly higher in treatment responders at week 24 and 48 (79% vs. 50%, p = 0.0031; 75% vs. 50%, p = 0.0276) (Figure).However, HBV RNA levels of patients with viral relapse did not differ from those with maintained response at the end of treatment.No correlation between HBV RNA levels and HBV DNA, qHBsAg, HBcrAg or HDV RNA levels was detected at any time-point during the study.Interestingly, only 36% of patients with undetectable HBV RNA showed undetectable HBcrAg levels at baseline, whereas all but two patients with undetectable HBcrAg were HBV RNA negative (n = 24/26, 92%). Conclusion:On-treatment HBV RNA levels differ significantly between responders and non-responders.Along with other virological parameters, HBV RNA could be a supportive marker to identify patients benefiting from treatment with pegIFNa.However, overall HBV RNA levels were low throughout the study population.