title: Changes in serum alanine aminotransferase levels in telbivudine versus lamivudine treatment for chronic hepatitis B: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A meta-analysis to compare the efficacy and safety of telbivudine (TBV) and lamivudine (LAM) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), assessed via changes in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  The electronic literature databases PubMed®, Embase®, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CISCOM, CINAHL, Google Scholar, China BioMedicine and China National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched for relevant studies. The effect of TBV and LAM treatment on serum ALT was assessed using standard mean differences (SMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The meta-analysis included six studies (TBV n = 202; LAM, n = 208). Post-treatment ALT levels were significantly lower than pretreatment values for both TBV and LAM (TBV: SMD = 3.00, 95%CI 1.91, 4.09; LAM: SMD = 2.33, 95%CI 1.58, 3.07). Post-treatment ALT was significantly lower after treatment with TBV than LAM (SMD = 0.58, 95%CI 0.21, 0.94).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both LAM and TBV are effective in normalizing ALT levels in patients with CHB, but TBV may be a better choice due to its lower rates of drug resistance.
authors: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Min
authors: M
authors: Dai
authors: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Ge-Min
authors: GM
authors: Xiao
authors: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Feng-Lin
authors: FL
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Jiong-Shan
authors: JS
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors: Yang-Mei
authors: YM
authors: Li
authors: Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China yanghongzhi719@163.com.
authors: Hong-Zhi
authors: HZ
authors: Yang
mesh_terms: D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood*; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D019259:Lamivudine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000077712:Telbivudine; D013936:Thymidine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; D000077712:Telbivudine; D019259:Lamivudine; D000410:Alanine Transaminase; D013936:Thymidine
keywords: Chronic hepatitis B; alanine aminotransferase; lamivudine; meta-analysis; telbivudine