Effect of lamivudine in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B: discordant effect on HBeAg and HBV DNA according to pretreatment ALT level.

AIM: To clarify differences in antiviral effect of the drug in patients with different ALT levels, we examined the changes in HBV markers in patients with high or low ALT levels with or without lamivudine treatment. METHODS: Thirty-seven HBeAg-positive patients were studied. Ten patients with ALT levels higher than 200 IU/L (group 1) and 8 patients with ALT below 200 IU/L (group 2) were treated orally with 100 mg/d of lamivudine. As untreated control, 9 patients with ALT above 200 IU/L (group 3) and 10 patients with ALT below 200 IU/L (group 4) were examined. ALT level, HBeAg/HBeAb status, and HBV DNA level were examined monthly for 11.9 +/- 0.4 mo. RESULTS: The ALT level normalized in all 10 patients of group 1, 7/8 of group 2, 4/9 of group 3, and 1/10 of group 4 within 6 mo (groups 1 vs 2, P = NS; groups 1 vs 3, P = 0.002; groups 1 vs 4, P<0.0001). HBV DNA fell below the detection limit in all 10 patients of group 1, 7/8 of group 2, 0/9 of group 3, and 0/10 of group 4 within 6 mo (groups 1 vs 2, P = NS). HBeAg became seronegative in 7/10 patients of group 1, 1/8 of group 2, 3/9 of group 3, and 0/10 of group 4 within 12 mo (groups 1 vs 2, P = 0.02; groups 1 vs 3, P = NS). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that HBeAg-positive patients with higher ALT levels can be considered good candidates for lamivudine therapy, probably because lamivudine accelerates the natural seroconversion of HBeAg, accompanied by HBV DNA loss, in these patients. (C) 2005 The WJG Press and Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.