title: Is increasing the dose of Entecavir effective in partial virological responders?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the effect of increasing Entecavir (ETV) dosage in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) who partially responded to ETV after 1 year.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-three hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive and 36 HBeAg-negative patients with CHB were treated with ETV 0.5 mg daily. After 1 year of the treatment, those with detectable hepatitis B virus (HBV-DNA) were randomized to either ETV 0.5 mg or 1 mg daily. The resistance to ETV was excluded. Both groups received ETV for 3 years. The groups were compared in aspects of undetectable DNA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Group 1 was given 0.5 mg ETV and included 32 patients (20 HBeAg-negative and 12 HBeAg-positive). Group 2 was given 1 mg ETV and consisted of 27 patients (16 HBeAg-negative and eleven HBeAg-positive). Group 2 had more effective suppression of HBV-DNA while both groups had comparable rates of HBeAg loss (58% and 63% for group 1 and group 2, respectively) and alanine transaminase (ALT) normalization at the end of 4 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increasing ETV dose from 0.5 mg to 1 mg after 1 year of ETV treatment may provide an effective suppression of viral replication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayse
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Erturk
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize, Turkey.
authors.forename: Remzi Adnan
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Akdogan
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey.
authors.forename: Emine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Parlak
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize, Turkey.
authors.forename: Erkan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cure
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize, Turkey.
authors.forename: Medine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cumhur Cure
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize, Turkey.
authors.forename: Cinar
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ozturk
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006147:Guanine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; C413685:entecavir; D006147:Guanine
keywords: chronic hepatitis B; entecavir; patient monitoring; treatment