A case-control study of response to lamivudine therapy for 2 years in Japanese a

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Hepatol Res. 2006 Apr 16; [Epub ahead of print]

A case-control study of response to lamivudine therapy for 2 years in

Japanese and Chinese patients chronically infected with hepatitis B virus of

genotypes Bj, Ba and C.

Orito E, Fujiwara K, Tanaka Y, Yuen MF, Lai CL, Kato T, Sugauchi F, Kusakabe

A, Sata M, Okanoue T, Niitsuma H, Sakugawa H, Hasegawa I, Mizokami M.

Department of Internal Medicine and Molecular Science, Nagoya City

University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kawasumi 1, Mizuho, Nagoya

467-8601, Japan.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: In eastern Asian countries, hepatitis B virus (HBV)

genotype Ba (HBV/Ba), HBV/Bj and HBV/C are prevalent. The aim was to

investigate the response or resistance to lamivudine therapy among patients

with different HBV genotypes. METHODS: Of 67 Japanese and Chinese patients

with chronic hepatitis B, 18 patients with HBV/Bj, 15 with HBV/Ba and 34

with HBV/C were selected for a case-control study matched according to

gender and age. All the patients were treated with lamivudine for 2 years

and evaluated the response or emergence of the YMDD mutation at year 2

during the treatment. HBV genotypes were detected by the restriction

fragment length polymorphism. The YMDD mutation was detected by the direct

sequencing after amplification by PCR. RESULTS: At year 2 during therapy,

44.8% of the patients showed normalization of ALT and undetectable HBV DNA

(favorable response), 35.8% developed the YMDD mutation. There was no

significant difference of response to the therapy among the three genotype

groups. The emergence of the YMDD mutation was associated with HBV/C. By the

multiple logistic regression analysis, however, the significant factor of a

favorable response was a higher pretreatment ALT level and negative HBeAg

status and the significant factor of the emergence of the YMDD mutation was

HBV/C. CONCLUSIONS: Higher pretreatment ALT level, HBeAg status or HBV

genotype may affect the response or resistance to lamivudine therapy.

PMID: 16621686 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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