title: Lamivudine treatment in maternally transmitted chronic hepatitis B virus infection patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lamivudine treatment in chronic carriers who acquired hepatitis B virus through maternal transmission were investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 29 subjects (Male:Female, 24:5; mean age, 14.7 +/- 5.6 years) who were hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seropositive for >6 months, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was >1.3 times of upper limit of normal value, and receiving a 52 week-long treatment, received open-label lamivudine (3 mg/kg per day, maximum 100 mg/day). Another 29 subjects matched for gender, age, liver function, and HBeAg status followed up before the introduction of lamivudine served as the control group. The control group did not receive any treatment and were evaluated at week 52 after the onset of abnormal ALT. Mothers of all study subjects were hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriers. A successful treatment response at week 52 was defined as: (i) undetectable hepatitis B virus DNA by real time polymerase chain reaction; (ii) normal ALT; and (iii) HBeAg/anti-HBe seroconversion. Lamivudine-resistant YMDD mutants were checked at week 52.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The lamivudine group did not reach a better successful treatment response rate than the control group (17 vs 10%, P = 0.44), except in patients with a baseline ALT >5 times of the upper limit of normal value. YMDD mutants developed in 34% of patients in the lamivudine group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lamivudine treatment is effective for maternally transmitted subjects with high ALT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yen-Hsuan
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.forename: Fu-Chen
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Tzee-Chung
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Man-Shan
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Yung-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Jeng
authors.forename: Pei-Jer
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Daw-Jen
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Tsuei
authors.forename: Huey-Ling
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hong-Yuan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Mei-Hwei
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005838:Genotype; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D019259:Lamivudine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D019259:Lamivudine