Clinical study of patients with HbeAg-positive chronic nepatitis B treated by entecavir for 96 weeks

Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of entecavir in treating patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B. Methods Ninety-four cases of HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B with no prior history of antiviral therapy were randomly divided into two groups:entecavir group (54 cases) treated with entecavir 0.5 mg/d and cami vudine group (40 cases) treated with lamivudine 100 mg/d.The duration of both therapy were 96 weeks.The ALT normalization rate,HBV-DNA negative conversion rate,HBeAg seroconversion and safty were assessed. Results At the end of the therapy,the ALT normalization rates of entecavir group and lamivudine group were 94.3% and 76.3%,respectively. The HBV-DNA negative conversion rates were 83.0% and 60.5%,respectively.There were significant differences between the two groups.But there was no significant difference in HBeAg negtive conversion rate and HBeAb seroconvesion rate between the two groups. Conclusions The ALT normalization rate and HBV-DNA negative convesion rates of nucleoside naive patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B treated by ente cavir for 96 weeks are higher than treated by lamivudine,and the treatment of entecalir is safe and has low incidence of drug resistance. Key words: Hepatitis B virus ;  Chronic hepatitis B ;  Entecavir ;  Lamivudine ;