Comparison of telbivudine and adefovir dipivoxil in the treatment of HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of telbivudine and adefovir dipivoxil in treatment of patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B.Methods Thirty-five patients were randomly divided into the group of telbivudine(16 cases) and the group of adefovir dipivoxil(19 cases).Degree of mean HBV-DNA logarithm number reduction at week 4,8,12,24,48,72 and HBV-DNA negative,aminotransferase(ALT) normalization,HBeAg seroconversion,the complete response or total effective rates and viral rebound rates at week 12,24,48,72 were compared between the two groups.Results There was not statistically different in gender and age,baseline HBV-DNA levels and ALT levels between the two groups before treatment(P0.05).Compared with baseline,degree of mean HBV-DNA logarithm number reduction in telbivudine group was superior to that in adefovir dipivoxil group at week 4,8,12,24,the difference was statistically significant between the two groups(P0.05).The difference was no statistical significance in the rates of HBeAg seroconversion,HBV-DNA negative and ALT normalization between the telbivudine group and the adefovir dipivoxil group at week 12,24,48,72(P0.05).The total effective rate of telbivudine group was superior to that of adefovir dipivoxil group at week 12,24,the difference was statistically significant between the two groups(P0.05),but there was no statistically significant difference in the total effective rate between the two groups at week 48 or 72(P0.05).Virus rebound rate,safety and tolerability were similarly in two groups,there was no significant difference between the two groups(P0.05).Conclusion Telbivudine is more significant inhibition of HBV-DNA than adefovir dipivoxil at week 4,8,12,24.The patients of telbivudine treatment are similar to those of adefovir dipivoxil treatment in the rates of HBV-DNA negative,HBeAg seroconversion rates,ALT normalization rates,complete response rates and total effective rates at week 48 or 72.there are low rates of virologic rebound,good safety and tolerability in two groups.