• Please log in or register to access this feature.

Four years of lamivudine treatment in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B

  1. TING-TSUNG CHANG1,*,
  2. CHING-LUNG LAI4,
  3. RONG-NAN CHIEN2,
  4. RICHARD GUAN6,
  5. SENG-GEE LIM6,
  6. CHUAN-MO LEE3,
  7. KENG-YEEN NG7,
  8. GRAHAM J NICHOLLS8,
  9. JULIE C DENT8,
  10. NANCY WY LEUNG5

Article first published online: 11 JUN 2004

DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1746.2004.03428.x

Issue

Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Volume 19, Issue 11, pages 1276–1282, November 2004

Additional Information

How to Cite

CHANG, T.-T., LAI, C.-L., CHIEN, R.-N., GUAN, R., LIM, S.-G., LEE, C.-M., NG, K.-Y., NICHOLLS, G. J., DENT, J. C. and LEUNG, N. W. (2004), Four years of lamivudine treatment in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B. Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 19: 1276–1282. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1746.2004.03428.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Internal Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan,

  2. 2

    Liver Research Unit, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and University, Taipei and

  3. 3

    Liver Research Unit, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung Hsein, Taiwan;

  4. 4

    Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital and

  5. 5

    Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong;

  6. 6

    Department of Medicine, National University Hospital and

  7. 7

    Department of Gastroenterology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore;

  8. 8

    GlaxoSmithKline Research and Development, Greenford, UK

*Professor Ting-Tsung Chang, Department of Internal Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, 138 Shing-Li Road, Tainan, Taiwan. Email: ttchang@mail.ncku.edu.tw

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 8 OCT 2004
  2. Article first published online: 11 JUN 2004
  3. Accepted for publication 6 November 2003.

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (109K)

Keywords:

  • Chinese;
  • chronic hepatitis B;
  • lamivudine

Abstract

Background and Aims:  This study assessed the efficacy and safety of up to 4 years of lamivudine treatment and the clinical relevance of the emergence of YMDD-variant hepatitis B virus (HBV).

Methods:  Fifty-eight Chinese adult patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) were randomized to lamivudine 100 mg/day for up to 5 years and were monitored for YMDD-variant HBV, hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion (loss of HBeAg and detectable antibody to HBeAg) and serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) concentrations. Four-year data are reported here.

Results:  The rate of HBeAg seroconversion increased with extended therapy and also with higher baseline ALT concentrations. YMDD-variant HBV was detected in 67% (39/58) of patients at some point during treatment. After 4 years, a total of 47% (27/58) of patients achieved HBeAg seroconversion. Thirty-three per cent (13/39) of patients with YMDD-variant HBV achieved HBeAg seroconversion; this increased to 57% (8/14) in patients with moderately elevated (>2–5 × upper limit of normal) pre-treatment ALT concentrations. The proportion of patients that achieved normal serum ALT increased from 29% (17/58) at baseline to 69% (31/45) following 4 years of treatment. That included 68% (23/34) of patients with YMDD-variant HBV and 73% (8/11) of those without the variant. All patients receiving lamivudine had reduced serum concentrations of HBV-DNA compared with baseline, despite the emergence of YMDD-variant HBV in 39 patients. Lamivudine was generally well tolerated; there was little change in the number or type of drug-related adverse events in the fourth year of the study.

Conclusions:  Despite the emergence of YMDD-variant HBV, Chinese patients showed increased HBeAg seroconversion and improvement in ALT levels with an increased duration of treatment with lamivudine.

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (109K)