title: Antiviral therapy of chronic hepatitis B: prevention of drug resistance.
abstract: The emergence of viral resistance during treatment is becoming an important clinical issue for hepatitis B virus (HBV) antiviral therapy. Considerable progress has been achieved in the efficacy of treatment, with the development of new drugs that allow a sustained suppression of HBV replication, or at least maintain the viral load below a clinically relevant threshold. Although most drugs currently registered for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B are effective in suppressing viral load, long-term therapy is required to avoid viral reactivation and progression of liver disease. Because of the variability of the HBV genome, such long-term treatments are associated with the emergence of resistant viral strains, which may compromise the initial clinical benefit of the treatment.
authors.affiliation: Hospices Civils de Lyon, Hôtel Dieu, Service d'hépato-gastroentérologie, 69002 Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fournier
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zoulim
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D024882:Drug Resistance, Viral; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D012367:RNA, Viral