Response to lamivudine treatment in children with chronic hepatitis B virus infection.
Despite the recent approval of lamivudine for the treatment of children with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, there is insufficient information on the kinetics of HBV clearance and the factors that predict a favorable treatment response to lamivudine in this population. In a small retrospective study of 16 HBV-infected children treated with lamivudine, we examined changes in virus load and other factors associated with hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) clearance. High pretherapy alanine aminotransferase level, low serum HBV DNA load, and age at the start of treatment were independently associated with HBeAg clearance. HBeAg clearance was also associated with the achievement of specific levels of virus suppression, and failure to achieve those levels was associated with the development of lamivudine resistance. Additional studies are necessary to provide better indications and guidelines for the treatment of children with chronic HBV infection.
Hagmann
Stefan
S
Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA.
Chung
May
M
Rochford
Gemma
G
Jani
Mudra
M
Trinh-Shevrin
Chau
C
Sitnitskaya
Yekaterina
Y
Neumann
Avidan U
AU
Pollack
Henry
H
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000187:drug effects; D024882:Drug Resistance, Viral; D005260:Female; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000378:metabolism*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D019259:Lamivudine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019562:Viral Load; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects
D004279:DNA, Viral; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D019259:Lamivudine