Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the discovery cohort

Gender—male^a

9 (56.2)

8 (61.5)

ns

Age (years)^a

48.2 ± 14.7

54.2 ± 11.6

ns

Hbe Ag positive^a

– (0)

– (0)

ns

Anti Hbe Ab positive^a

16 (100)

13 (100)

–

HBV DNA (log IU/mL)^b

6.2 ± 5.8

8.5 ± 4.7

ns

Serum ALT (IU/L)^b

56.5 ± 35.6

106.2 ± 87.1

ns

Serum AST (IU/L)^b

41.7 ± 29.1

75.1 ± 56.1

0.01

White blood cell count (×10⁹/L)^b

6.2 ± 1.2

5.6 ± 1.4

ns

Platelet count (×10⁹/L)^b

218.9 ± 52.1

177.9 ± 64.54

ns

Haemoglobin (g/L)^b

13.8 ± 0.9

13.6 ± 1.6

ns

Albumin (g/L)^b

4.4 ± 0.3

4.4 ± 0.4

ns

Prothrombin time (s)^b

11.8 ± 0.8

12.1 ± 0.9

ns

Direct bilirubin (mg/dL)^b

0.31 ± 0.1

0.37 ± 0.1

ns

Modified histologic activity index^a

 0–4

9 (56.25)

2 (15.3)

 5–9

7 (43.75)

9 (69.23)

 10–14

–

2 (15.3)

 15–18

–

–

Fibrosis^a

 0

9 (56.25)

–

 1

2 (12.5)

–

 2

5 (31.25)

–

 3

–

4 (30.7)

 4

–

3 (23.0)

 5

–

4 (30.7)

 6

–

2 (15.3)