Original Article
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World J Gastroenterol. Nov 21, 2013; 19(43): 7671-7679
Published online Nov 21, 2013. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i43.7671
Efficacy of switching to telbivudine plus adefovir in suboptimal responders to lamivudine plus adefovir
Hana Park, Jun Yong Park, Seung Up Kim, Do Young Kim, Kwang-Hyub Han, Chae Yoon Chon, Sang Hoon Ahn
Hana Park, Department of Internal Medicine, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam-si 463-712, South Korea
Hana Park, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, South Korea
Jun Yong Park, Seung Up Kim, Do Young Kim, Chae Yoon Chon, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, South Korea
Jun Yong Park, Seung Up Kim, Do Young Kim, Chae Yoon Chon, Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Liver Cirrhosis Clinical Research Center, Seoul 120-752, South Korea
Kwang-Hyub Han, Sang Hoon Ahn, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, South Korea
Kwang-Hyub Han, Sang Hoon Ahn, Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, South Korea
Kwang-Hyub Han, Sang Hoon Ahn, Liver Cirrhosis Clinical Research Center, Seoul 120-752, South Korea
Kwang-Hyub Han, Sang Hoon Ahn, Brain Korea 21 Project for Medical Science, Seoul 120-752, South Korea
Author contributions: Park H, Park JY and Ahn SH designed the research/study; Park H analyzed the data; Park H and Ahn SH performed the study; and Kim SU, Kim DY, Han KH, Chon CY and Ahn SH collected the data; Park JY reviewed the data of study population; Park H wrote the paper.
Supported by The Liver Cirrhosis Clinical Research Center, a grant from the Korea Healthcare Technology R and D project, Ministry of Health and Welfare, South Korea, No. HI10C2020; and a grant to the Bilateral International Collaborative R and D Program from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, South Korea
Correspondence to: Sang Hoon Ahn, MD, PhD, Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 150 Shinchon-dong 50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-752, South Korea. ahnsh@yuhs.ac
Telephone: +82-2-3936884 Fax:+82-2-22281936
Received: June 9, 2013
Revised: September 14, 2013
Accepted: September 16, 2013
Published online: November 21, 2013
Processing time: 192 Days and 2.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: A suboptimal response is common in patients treated with lamivudine (LAM) + adefovir (ADV) combination therapy and it has also become a new challenge for the management of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. We commenced this study with the effect of telbivudine (LdT) + ADV combination therapy as a rescue therapeutic option in LAM-resistant CHB patients with suboptimal response to LAM + ADV. Our results demonstrated that switching from LAM + ADV to LdT + ADV resulted in superior virologic response, renoprotective effect and similar safety profiles at week 48. These results suggest that LdT + ADV could be a therapeutic option for patients who are unable to use enofovir disoproxil fumarate for any reason.