Background and purpose Studies have shown that some cytokines in COVID‐19 patients were elevated. This study aims to assess whether IL‐10, IL‐1β, IL‐6, MCP‐1, TNF‐α, IP‐10 and IL‐4 serve as potential diagnostic biomarkers of COVID‐19. Methods The above serum cytokines in COVID‐19 patients and non COVID‐19 patients were detected by ELISA, SARS‐CoV‐2 IgM and IgG were detected by chemiluminescence method. Independent‐samples Mann‐Whitney U‐test was utilized to compare cytokines levels in different groups and course, Levene T‐test, T’‐test were utilized to compare they in different genders, and Spearman Correlation test was utilized to analyze the correlation between the cytokines levels with ages, SARS‐CoV‐2 IgG and IgM. Results Serum levels of IL‐10, IL‐1β, MCP‐1, TNF‐α and IL‐4 in COVID‐19 patients were significantly higher than those in non‐COVID‐19 patients, while IL‐6 were only significantly higher than in healthy people, IP‐10 were significantly lower than in other diseases patients. AUCs of COVID‐19 diagnosed by IL‐10, IL‐1β, IL‐6, MCP‐1, TNF‐α, IP‐10 and IL‐4 were 0.735, 0.775, 0.595, 0.821, 0.848, 0.387 and 0.682, respectively. In COVID‐19 patients’ serum, the levels of IL‐10 and MCP‐1 of male had noticeably higher than those of female, and all cytokines were significantly positively correlated with age, IL‐1β and IL‐4 were significantly negatively correlated with SARS‐CoV‐2 IgM, while IL‐10, IL‐1β, IL‐6, TNF‐α and IP‐10 were significantly negatively correlated with SARS‐CoV‐2 IgG. IL‐10 on 43‐56 days were significantly lower than at 29‐42 days, TNF‐α at 15‐42 days were significantly higher than at 0‐14 days, IP‐10 at 0‐14 days were the highest, IL‐4 at 29‐42 days were significant higher than on 0‐14 days. Conclusions The detection of IL‐10, IL‐1 β, IL‐6, MCP‐1, TNF‐α and IL‐4 would assist the clinical study of COVID‐19, and IP‐10 may be the cytokine `of early elevation in COVID‐19 patients.

Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss is considered a functional cure in chronic hepatitis B (CHB). However, the durability of HBsAg loss after stopping treatment remains unknown. This study aimed to assess the sustained functional cure achieved by interferon therapy in hepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg)‐negative CHB patients. In this prospective study, 176 HBeAg‐negative CHB patients with functional cure were enrolled for 12 weeks of cessation treatment, and treatment information and baseline data were collected. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) biomarkers and clinical biochemical indicators were evaluated every 3 months; liver imaging examinations were performed every 3‐6 months during the 48‐week follow‐up. The sustained functional cure was evaluated. After the 48‐week follow‐up, the sustained functional cure rate was 86.63%. The cumulative rates of HBsAg reversion and HBV DNA reversion were 12.79% and 2.33%, respectively. Consolidation treatment ≥ 12 weeks after HBsAg loss achieved a significantly higher rate of sustained functional cure and significantly lower rate of HBsAg reversion than consolidation treatment < 12 weeks (76.19% vs 90.00%, P = 0.022 and 23.81% vs 9.23%, P = 0.014, respectively). Patients with hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb) had higher rate of sustained functional cure than patients achieving HBsAg loss but without HBsAb (89.86% vs 73.53%, P = 0.012). Consolidation treatment ≥ 12 weeks (odds ratio [OR] 16.478; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.135‐127.151; P = 0.007) and high HBsAb levels (OR 8.312; 95% CI, 1.824‐37.881; P = 0.006) were independent predictors of sustained functional cure. Results suggested that 12 weeks of consolidation therapy after HBsAg clearance and elevated HBsAb levels help to improve functional cure.

The situation of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) continues to evolve, our study explored the significance of serum levels of matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP3) as a marker for patients with COVID‐19. Sixty‐two COVID‐19 patients in the First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine and Loudi Center for Diseases Prevention and Control, from January to March 2020, were sampled as the novel coronavirus pneumonia infected group. One hundred and thirty‐one cases from the First Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, including 67 healthy individuals and 64 non‐COVID‐19 inpatients, served as the noninfected group. Approximately every 5 days, sera from 20 cases were collected and analyzed three times, using an automatic biochemical analyzer, to detect serum MMP3 concentrations. Correlation was analyzed between MMP3 and other proinflammatory cytokines. Following normality tests, differences in serum MMP3 levels between the infected and noninfected group were analyzed via SPSS (version 25.0) software, using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. The MMP3 concentration was 44.44 (23.46 ~ 72.12) ng/mL in the infected group and 32.42 (28.16 ~ 41.21) ng/mL in the noninfected group. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( Z = −2.799, P = .005 < .05). A positive correlation was found between MMP3 and interleukin 1β (IL‐1β; r = .681, P = .000 < .05), and IL‐6 ( r = .529, P = .002 < .05). Serum MMP3 concentration, measured over three separate time points, were 55.98 (30.80 ~ 75.97) ng/mL, 34.84 (0.00 ~ 51.84) ng/mL, and 5.71 (0.00 ~ 40.46) ng/mL, respectively. Detection of serum MMP3 levels may play an important role in the development of therapeutic approaches for COVID‐19 and may indicate the severity of disease.

IFN treatment results in HBsAg loss and seroconversion in a considerable proportion of inactive HBsAg carriers with low HBsAg concentrations.