Objective To observe the effects of Thymosin α1 （Tα1） on acute rejection after liver transplantation and immune function of T cells. Methods Twenty recipients of liver transplantation due to primary hepatic carcinoma were divided into two groups: Tα1 group (n=10) and control group (n=10). Tα1 group received subcutaneous injection of Tα1 1.6 mg on the first day after liver transplantation and then twice a week for at least one month. Both Tα1 group and control group took same immunodepressants. Core biopsies were carried to compare the incidence rate of acute rejection between Tα1 group and control group. Peripheral T cellular immune function in these two groups was detected on 1 d before, 1 week, 2 weeks and 1 month after transplantation. Results There was not significant difference of incidence rate of acute rejection between Tα1 group and control group (Pgt;0.05). In the Tα1 group, CD4+, CD8+ lymphocyte cell counts and the CD4+/CD8+ ratio were significantly higher than those in the control group in 2 weeks and 1 month after transplantation (P＜0.05). Conclusion Use of Tα1 in recipients who also takes rountine immunosuppressants dose not increase the risk of occurring acute rejection after liver transplantation. Tα1 can significantly increase CD4+, CD8+ counts and CD4+/CD8+ ratio, which shows that Tα1 may improve recipients’ cellular immune function.
Objective?To compare adefovir monotherapy with adefovir-thymosin alpha-1 combination therapy for chronic hepatitis B. Methods?We searched The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, PubMed, the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM), CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP databases up to February 2010 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing adefovir plus thymosin alpha-1 versus adefovir alone for chronic hepatitis B. We also scanned references of all included studies and pertinent reviews. The methodological quality assessment and data extraction were conducted by two reviewers independently according to the Cochrane Reviewer’s Handbook 5.0.2 . Meta-analyses were performed using RevMan 5.0 software. Results?Eleven trials involving 895 patients were included. The results of meta-analyses shoued: the HBeAg seroconversion rate of the combination therapy group was higher than that of the monotherapy group, both at the sixth month and the twelfth month (RR=1.77, 95%CI 1.38 to 2.27; RR=1.74, 95%CI 1.44 to 2.10); and there were also significant differences between the two groups for secondary outcomes including HBV-DNA negative, ALT normalization, etc.Conclusion?Adefovir-thymosin alpha-1 combination therapy might be more effective than adefovir monotherapy for chronic hepatitis B. Significant differences are even observed at the sixth month. However, the results should be interpreted with caution because of the low quality of the included studies. High-quality, large-scale RCTs are needed to further prove the results.
