Quantitation of HBsAg predicts response to entecavir therapy in HBV genotype C patients

Figure 1 Hepatitis B virus DNA levels before and during entecavir therapy. A: In the hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative group, hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels in all patients decreased to < 3.0 log copies/mL at year 2. Of these patients, 61.5% shown to be negative for HBV DNA by the real-time polymerase chain reaction method; B: In the HBeAg-positive group, 58.3% of patients (rapid-responders) showed < 3.0 log copies/mL at year 2, while 41.7% of patients (slow-responders) showed ≥ 3.0 log copies/mL. In addition, at year 2, only 12.5% of the patients were negative for HBV DNA.