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发表于 2003-11-27 17:25
Figure 3. Kaplan-Meier analysis of virological breakthrough in anti-HBe-positive patients with chronic hepatitis B re-treated with lamivudine monotherapy. Patients were divided according to the previous course of therapy: combination therapy with lamivudine and interferon (IFN + LAM; Group 1) and lamivudine monotherapy (LAM; Group 2).
The predictors of long-term response to re-treatment are evaluated in Table 2. Responders did not differ from those who experienced a breakthrough with regard to gender, alanine transaminase values, HBV-DNA levels, presence of cirrhosis and previous treatment with lamivudine-interferon or lamivudine monotherapy. However, they differed in age [responders being older than those who developed an HBV mutant (P = 0.04)] and in the time interval between initial treatment and re-treatment [responders being re-treated after a shorter period (P = 0.01)]. Two features of responders approached statistical significance: higher baseline alanine transaminase levels and previous treatment with lamivudine-interferon.
Biochemical Changes During Therapy
Serum alanine transaminase levels declined during lamivudine therapy, generally after the decrease in HBV-DNA levels. Alanine transaminase levels were normal in 68% of patients at 3 months, in 83% at 6 months, in 61% at 1 year and in 44% at 2 years. The rise in alanine transaminase levels during treatment followed the development of resistance. The alanine transaminase deviation pattern at the time of virological breakthrough differed: alanine transaminase reached values of acute hepatitis (10 times normal values) in nine patients, five of whom demonstrated an alanine transaminase peak which coincided with the reappearance of HBV-DNA and the detection of YMDD variants; in the remaining four patients, the peak occurred within 8 months from breakthrough. Apart from general malaise and asthenia, no patient became icteric or developed signs of liver decompensation. These nine patients were maintained on lamivudine for another 6 months; alanine transaminase levels were persistently elevated (five times normal) during treatment. In the remaining 12 breakthrough patients, milder elevations of alanine transaminase levels were observed.
Viral Resistance
The detection of YMDD mutants was demonstrated in all 21 patients at breakthrough. The YIDD mutant was detected in eight patients; YVDD mutants were found in nine patients in combination with L528M; YIDD mutants in combination with L528M were detected in four patients.
Characterization of Non-Responder
A 58-year-old man with histologically demonstrated liver cirrhosis agreed to re-treatment for biochemical and virological relapse which occurred 2 months after the first course of lamivudine monotherapy. At baseline before re-treatment, the patient had high serum alanine transaminase levels and was HBV-DNA positive by hybridization assay; a wild-type YMDD sequence was detected by direct sequencing. The virological and biochemical profile of this patient on re-treatment is reported in Figure 4. After 2 months of re-treatment, the YVDD/L528M mutant replaced the wild-type virus and, subsequently, the YIDD mutant replaced the YVDD mutant. Lamivudine was withdrawn at month 16 and interferon therapy was initiated on a compassionate basis. After a transient hepatitic flare, during which the re-emergence of L528M/YVDD as the dominant mutant viral population was observed, alanine transaminase normalized and HBV-DNA tested negative. The baseline serum sample was also analysed by the INNO LiPA HBV-DR test, and a mixture of wild-type virus, L528M/YVDD and L528M/YIDD mutants was found.
Figure 4. Biochemical, virological and molecular analysis of an anti-HBe-positive chronic hepatitis B patient treated with lamivudine and interferon (IFN). ALT, alanine transaminase; HBV-DNA, hepatitis B virus DNA; WT, wild type.
Discussion
In patients with HBeAg-negative/HBV-DNA-positive chronic hepatitis B (pre-core mutant), a 12-month course of lamivudine monotherapy provides promising on-therapy results, but poor efficacy off therapy due to virological and biochemical relapses.[7] For this reason, long-term therapy with lamivudine has been recommended in order to suppress viral replication and control liver disease.[6] The major shortcoming of this approach is the development of resistance, which limits efficacy in a high proportion of patients. In a previous controlled study, we demonstrated that the emergence of lamivudine-resistant mutations can be prevented by combining lamivudine with interferon: no patient receiving combination therapy developed YMDD mutants as long as therapy was administered, whereas 19% of patients treated with lamivudine alone experienced a virological breakthrough due to YMDD mutants during the 12-month course of monotherapy. However, this beneficial effect was lost after discontinuation of therapy, when marked increases in HBV-DNA and serum alanine transaminase levels were observed in all patients.[12] Although it remains to be ascertained whether prolonging combination therapy for more than 12 months could maintain the response and avoid the appearance of mutants, dual therapy with lamivudine and interferon rather than lamivudine monotherapy alone may be suggested as a first-line therapeutic option for anti-HBe-positive patients with chronic hepatitis B.
At present, therapeutic options for anti-HBe-positive patients with chronic hepatitis B who develop resistance to lamivudine, and for those who relapse after the discontinuation of lamivudine, are being evaluated. Adefovir has been proven to be effective in both instances;[13] however, at the time of initiation of the present study, this drug was available only in the liver transplant setting and interferon had been temporarily withdrawn from prescription by Italian health authorities. Therefore, we were forced to rely on lamivudine. In the present study, we evaluated the efficacy of a second lamivudine course in anti-HBe-positive patients who had failed a previous course.
Our study demonstrated that the 6- and 12-month virological responses were 94.4% and 66.7%, respectively, which are comparable with the 81.7% and 65% response rates reported in the largest published trial by Tassopoulos et al.[7] For the first time, these results establish the benefit of re-treatment with lamivudine monotherapy for anti-HBe-positive patients.
A crucial issue is how long re-treatment with lamivudine monotherapy should be maintained in this setting. In the industry-sponsored multi-national ongoing study of extended lamivudine therapy in anti-HBe-positive patients naive to this drug, the response declined from 67% at 6 months, to 51%, 34% and 29% after 12, 24 and 36 months, respectively.[16] In four additional clinical studies, approximately 30% of patients maintained a full virological and biochemical response after 3 years of therapy.[17-20] The observed 60% response rate at 24 months of therapy found in our study, together with the actuarial 39% response rate at 42 months, are similar to the results obtained in published series and establish the benefit of long-term re-treatment with lamivudine monotherapy in anti-HBe-positive patients who have failed a previous course of treatment with the drug. In our trial, responders are still on lamivudine therapy and are scheduled to undergo repeat liver biopsy after 5 years of continuous therapy in order to evaluate the benefits of continuing lamivudine therapy. Moreover, long-term re-treatment was associated with the development of resistance and a loss of response in 21 of the 36 enrolled patients after 6-38 months of lamivudine monotherapy.
Interestingly, the first appearance of mutants in patients from Group 1 was delayed by 6 months compared with that in patients from Group 2. In addition, at 12 and 24 months of re-treatment, the rates of breakthrough were 25% and 37.5%, respectively, in Group 1, and 36.8% and 57.9%, respectively, in Group 2; by Kaplan-Meier analysis, breakthroughs at month 42 of re-treatment were 42% in Group 1 and 82% in Group 2. These differences, although not significant, probably due to the small sample size, underline the beneficial effect of combination therapy in preventing or delaying the emergence of drug-resistant mutants.
Only one patient in this study did not respond; in this patient, the presence of subpopulations of YMDD mutants at low levels in the serum sample obtained before treatment was shown by INNO LiPA HBV-DR assay, but not by direct sequencing. This observation confirms the clinical importance of methods which are more sensitive than direct DNA sequencing for the detection of mixed viral populations and are especially useful for predicting the response to therapy in patients already exposed to lamivudine.
In conclusion, in patients with anti-HBe-positive chronic hepatitis B with a relapse after lamivudine therapy, re-treatment is capable of controlling viral replication. This effect is maintained for the initial 12 months of therapy, after which a high rate of viral resistance limits the long-term efficacy of this therapeutic strategy.
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Tables
Table 1. Demographic and Baseline Features of 36 Patients with Hepatitis B e Antigen (HBeAg)-negative Chronic Hepatitis B Divided According to a Previous Course of Either Lamivudine Plus Interferon (Group 1) or Lamivudine Monotherapy (Group 2)
Group 1Group 2P
No. of patients1620
Age (years) (mean ± s.d.)47.4 ± 7.544.2 ± 11.80.32
Gender, males (n, %)14 (87)17 (85)0.82
Cirrhosis at histology (n, %)4 (25)5 (25)1
Time elapsed between two treatments (months) (mean ± s.d.)3.3 ± 1.812.7 ± 7.40.0001
ALT (IU/L), median value (Q3-Q1)*459 (201-768)192 (114-466)0.01
ALT < 8 x normal (n, %)5 (31)13 (65)0.04
HBV-DNA (pg/mL), median value (Q3-Q1)*82 (12-179)307.5 (80-684)0.06
HBV-DNA < 100 pg/mL (n, %)10 (63)5 (25)0.02
ALT, alanine transaminase; HBV-DNA, hepatitis B virus DNA.
* Q3-Q1 indicates the difference between the 75th and 25th percentile values.
Table 2. Occurrence of Breakthrough in Anti-HBe-positive Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B During Lamivudine Re-Treatment in Relation to their Baseline Characteristics
Responders (R)Breakthroughs (BR)P (BR vs. R)
No. of patients1421
Age (years) (mean ± s.d.)49.1 ± 6.842.7 ± 11.10.044
Gender (male/female)12/218/31
Previous IFN/LAM (n, %)9 (64)7 (33)0.07
Cirrhosis (n, %)4 (29)4 (19)0.68
Time elapsed between two treatments (months) (mean ± s.d.)4.9 ± 5.610.8 ± 7.50.01
ALT (IU/L), median value (Q3-Q1)*379 (172-799)221 (117-481)0.07
ALT < 8 x normal (n, %)5 (36)13 (62)0.13
HBV-DNA (pg/mL), median value (Q3-Q1)*92 (11-653)174 (54-554)0.53
HBV-DNA < 100 pg/mL (n, %)8 (57)7 (33)0.16
ALT, alanine transaminase; HBV-DNA, hepatitis B virus DNA; IFN, interferon; LAM, lamivudine.
* Q3-Q1 indicates the difference between the 75th and 25th percentile values.
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Reprint Address
Correspondence to: Dr G. A. Niro, Division of Gastroenterology, Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza Hospital, Viale Cappuccini, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo (FG), Italy. E-mail: [email protected]
G. A. Niro*, T. Santantonio?, R. Fontana*, M. Insalata?, D. Facciorusso*, F. Signorile?, F. Perri*, A. Guastadisegni?, D. Gioffreda*, O. Palmieri*, G. Pastore? & A. Andriulli*
*Division of Gastroenterology, Hospital 'Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza' IRCSS, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy; ?Department of Internal Medicine, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, University of Bari, Bari, Italy
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