title: Body surface area is an independent factor contributing to the effects of lamivudine treatment.
abstract: BACKGROUND:: It has been suggested that lamivudine therapy may be even more effective if administered at higher doses than is dictated by the current standard regimen. We analyzed the correlation between the effects of lamivudine and body surface area (BSA). METHOD:: We evaluated 134 patients with chronic hepatitis B who had been treated with lamivudine for more than 12 months. The effect of the treatment was evaluated from the levels of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and HBV-DNA. Several variables that could influence the response to treatment, including ALT, albumin, and bilirubin levels, platelet counts, BSA, HBV-DNA, and HBeAg were analyzed. RESULTS:: Univariate logistic analysis selected platelet counts, BSA, HBV-DNA and HBeAg in the biological evaluation, and bilirubin, BSA, HBV-DNA and HBeAg in the virological evaluation (chi(2)>1.0). Using these factors, multivariate analysis revealed that BSA (chi(2)=12.8, p=0.0004) was the only factor that could contribute significantly to the improvement of ALT levels, and that BSA (chi(2)=4.4, p=0.0354) and HBeAg (chi(2)=8.1, p=0.0044) were independent factors that could influence the suppression of HBV-DNA. CONCLUSION:: We revealed that BSA is a significantly predictor of the effect of lamivudine therapy, suggesting that lamivudine dosage should be based on the individual BSA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Bioregulatory Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan; Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamuta
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kotoh
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanabe
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kajiwara
authors.forename: Junya
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shimono
authors.forename: Akihide
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Masumoto
authors.forename: Toshihiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Norihiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Furusyo
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.forename: Hironori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Azuma
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shimoda
authors.forename: Munechika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Enjoji
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hayashi