Hepatitis B virus ; lamivudine ; Hepatitis B surface antigen
Abstract
The ideal goal for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B is the complete eradication of HBV. With prolonged lamivudine therapy, the HBeAg seroconversion rate can be increased. It has been reported that in some Caucasian patients, lamivudine induced not only HBeAg seroconversion, but also HBsAg seroconversion. However, such reports about Asian patients are rare. We report here on two Korean patients who experienced HBsAg seroclearance by lamivudine, and they had different HBV-DNA liver statuses. They were 35 and 30 years old males and they were treated with lamivudine for 36 and 18 months, respectively. As the HBeAg and HBsAg were lost, both patients developed anti-HBs. Liver biopsy revealed improvement of inflammation and fibrosis in one patient. Even though the other patient also developed anti-HBs, HBV-DNA was still detected in the liver tissue. Our cases show that lamivudine can bring HBsAg seroclearance in Korean patients suffering with chronic hepatitis B, but further research is needed to eliminate HBV-DNA in liver tissue.