This study compared virologic response to entecavir monotherapy and de novo lamivudine plus adefovir (LAM + ADV) combination therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) with high viral load (HVL). Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive patients [hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels >1 × 10(7) copies/ml] were assigned to LAM + ADV or entecavir treatment. The primary efficacy endpoint measure of the multicenter prospective cohort study was proportion of patients with CHB with virologic response, defined as HBV DNA <300 copies/ml at week 48. During treatment, 39.1 % (18/46) of patients in the LAM + ADV group and 48.1 % (25/52) of those in the entecavir group achieved virologic response in week 48 (P = 0.37). A baseline alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level ≥5 × ULN (upper limit of normal) or baseline serum HBV DNA level <8 log10 IU/ml could predict virologic response at week 48 (P = 0.025). The mean reduction in HBV DNA was comparable (P = 0.45); no significant difference was found in the proportion of ALT normalization (P = 0.46) or HBeAg seroconversion (P = 0.88). Two cases of genotypic resistance were found (rtM204 V + rtL180 M and rtA181T/V) in the LAM + ADV group, with a resistance rate of 4.3 %; there was no genotypic resistance in the entecavir group (P = 0.13). De novo LAM + ADV combination therapy is as effective as entecavir monotherapy in HBeAg-positive patients with CHB with HVL. Moreover, genotypic resistance was only found in the LAM + ADV group at week 48. Baseline ALT levels ≥5 ULN or baseline serum HBV DNA levels <8 log10 IU/ml were favorable predictors of virologic response in CHB with HVL.
Keywords: Chronic hepatitis B; High viral load; Nucleos(t)ide analogs; Virologic response.