title: Short-term lamivudine therapy in HBeAg-negative chronic active hepatitis B in Taiwan.
abstract: Lamivudine treatment in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients is associated with poor sustained response. A previous study has shown that short-term lamivudine therapy in HBeAg-positive patients with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) > 5x upper limit of normal (ULN) could achieve a high HBeAg response rate and low lamivudine resistance rate. We, therefore, prospectively treated 85 HBeAg-negative CHB patients with ALT > 5x ULN by lamivudine for 6-12 months. The mean pretreatment levels were as follows: ALT (normal < 36 U/I) 533 U/I (range: 180-2,418 U/I); total bilirubin (normal < 1.3 mg/dl) 2.0 mg/dl (range: 0.2-29.6 mg/dl), HBV DNA (normal, undetectable) 1.6 x 10(8) copies/ml (range: 1.4 x 10(5)-1.7 x 10(9) copies/ml). After a mean of 7.4 months (6-12 months) treatment, 69 (81%) patients achieved complete response. In a follow-up, 12 months after stopping lamivudine therapy, 33 (39%) patients showed sustained complete response. Patients with sustained response were younger than the relapsed patients (39.7 +/- 11.9 years versus 47.0 +/- 10.3 years; P = 0.005). The emergence of lamivudine-resistant variant HBV was documented in two patients (2%). It is concluded that in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B patients with ALT levels above 5x ULN, a 6-12 month course of lamivudine therapy may achieve sustained an off-treatment response in approximately one-third of patients.
authors.affiliation: Liver Research Unit, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University, Keelung, Taiwan. ronald@adm.cgmh.org.tw
authors.forename: Rong-Nan
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Chien
authors.forename: Yun-Fan
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Liaw
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004351:Drug Resistance; D005260:Female; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D019259:Lamivudine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D013624:Taiwan; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D004279:DNA, Viral; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D019259:Lamivudine; D000410:Alanine Transaminase