Association of HBsAg levels with differential gene expression in NK, CD8 T, and memory B cells in treated patients with chronic HBV

Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) secretion may impact the immune response in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Therapeutic approaches to suppress HBsAg production are being investigated. Our study aims to examine the immunomodulatory effects of high and low levels of circulating HBsAg by analyzing single-cell RNA sequencing data (scRNAseq) from blood and liver fine-needle aspirates (FNA). This will help to better understand anti-HBV immunity. An optimized 10X Genomics scRNAseq-workflow was applied to blood and FNA samples from 18 patients undergoing tenofovir or entecavir treatment (NUC) for chronic HBV infection. They were categorized based on their HBsAg levels: high (920- 12447 IU/mL) or low (1-100 IU/mL). Cluster frequencies, differential gene expression, and phenotypes were analyzed.