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Original Article
Volume 339:61-68 July 9, 1998 Number 2
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A One-Year Trial of Lamivudine for Chronic Hepatitis B
Ching-Lung Lai, M.D., Rong-Nan Chien, M.D., Nancy W.Y. Leung, M.D., Ting-Tsung Chang, M.D., Richard Guan, M.D., Dar-In Tai, M.D., Keng-Yeen Ng, M.D., Pui-Chee Wu, M.D., Julie C. Dent, Ph.D., Judy Barber, M.Sc., Sally L. Stephenson, Ph.D., D. Fraser Gray, Ph.D., for The Asia Hepatitis Lamivudine Study Group

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ABSTRACT

Background and Methods In preliminary trials, lamivudine, an oral nucleoside analogue, has shown promise for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. We conducted a one-year, double-blind trial of lamivudine in 358 Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B. The patients were randomly assigned to receive 25 mg of lamivudine (142 patients), 100 mg of lamivudine (143), or placebo (73) orally once daily. The patients underwent liver biopsies before entering the study and after completing the assigned treatment regimen. The primary end point was a reduction of at least two points in the Knodell necroinflammatory score.

Results Hepatic necroinflammatory activity improved by two points or more in 56 percent of the patients receiving 100 mg of lamivudine, 49 percent of those receiving 25 mg of lamivudine, and 25 percent of those receiving placebo (P<0.001 and P=0.001, respectively, for the comparisons of lamivudine treatment with placebo). Necroinflammatory activity worsened in 7 percent of the patients receiving 100 mg of lamivudine, 8 percent of those receiving 25 mg, and 26 percent of those receiving placebo. The 100-mg dose of lamivudine was associated with a reduced progression of fibrosis (P=0.01 for the comparison with placebo) and with the highest rate of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion (loss of HBeAg, development of antibody to HBeAg, and undetectable HBV DNA) (16 percent), the greatest suppression of HBV DNA (98 percent reduction at week 52 as compared with the base-line value), and the highest rate of sustained normalization of alanine aminotransferase levels (72 percent). Ninety-six percent of the patients completed the study. The incidence of adverse events was similar in all groups, and there were few serious events.

Conclusions In a one-year study, lamivudine was associated with substantial histologic improvement in many patients with chronic hepatitis B. A daily dose of 100 mg was more effective than a daily dose of 25 mg.


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From the Departments of Medicine (C.-L.L.) and Pathology (P.-C.W.), Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China; the Liver Unit, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan (R.-N.C.); the Department of Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong, China (N.W.Y.L.); the Department of Internal Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan (T.-T.C.); the Department of Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore (R.G.); the Liver Unit, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung Hsein, Taiwan (D.-I.T.); the Department of Gastroenterology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore (K.-Y.N.); the Medical Affairs Department, Glaxo Wellcome China, Hong Kong (J.C.D.); and the Departments of European Clinical Statistics (J.B.) and Infectious Diseases and Rheumatology (S.L.S., D.F.G.), Glaxo Wellcome Research and Development, Greenford, United Kingdom.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Lai at the Department of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China.

Full Text of this Article


Related Letters:

Lamivudine for Chronic Hepatitis B
Bernasconi E., Battegay M., Lai C.-L., Chien R.-N., Leung N. W.Y.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1998; 339:1786, Dec 10, 1998. Correspondence

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