GPT and chronic hepatitis B virus infection: At the time of enrolment in the trial (Supplementary Fig. 1), all 56 patients (37 HBeAg( +) and 19 HBeAg(−)) had alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels higher than the upper limit of normal (ULN) and were classified as chronic hepatitis B (CHB) according to the 2017 EASL clinical practice guidelines16.