Effect of lamivudine in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B: Discordant effect on HBeAg and HBV DNA according to pretreatment ALT level

Table 1 Characteristics of patients with positive HBeAg at enrollment.

	Group 1 (n = 10)	Group 2 (n = 8)	Group 3 (n = 9)	Group 4 (n = 10)
Age in years (mean±SD)	38.8±9.7	40.0±9.1	34.1±12.9	31.2±10.2	P = 0.07
Gender (male/female)	10/0	6/2	4/5	7/3	P = 0.01
ALT (IU/L)	695±450	89±45	325±195	89±38	P = 0.01
HBV DNA (LGE/mL)	7.4±1.4	7.5±0.9	7.2±1.5	8.2±0.5	P = 0.06
Genotype (A/B/C)	0/0/10	1/0/6	0/0/9	0/0/10	P = NS
Precore (wild/mutant)	9/1	6/1	8/1	10/0	P = NS
Core promoter (wild/mutant)	5/5e	2/5	1/8	4/6	P = 0.14
Fibrosis stage (F1/F2/F3)	1/3/1	3/1/2	0/4/1	3/1/0	P = 0.06

Group 1, ALT ≥ 200 and lamivudine-treated; group 2, ALT<200 and lamivudine-treated; group 3, ALT≥200 and lamivudine-untreated; group 4, ALT<200 and lamivudine-untreated. LGE, logarithm genome equivalent.

Table 2 Multivariate Cox regression analysis of factors associated with HBeAg loss.

Variables	Relative risk	95% CI	P
Age <30 (yr)	1.0
≥30 (yr)	1.995	0.236-16.898	0.526
Gender male	1.0
female	5.247	0.294-93.594	0.260
ALT <200 IU/L	1.0
≥200 IU/L	13.158	1.153-142.857	0.038
HBV DNA (LGE/mL)	0.751	0.479-1.178	0.212
Core promoter Wild	1.0
Mutant	0.944	0.234-3.817	0.936
Precore Wild	1.0
Mutant	0.749	0.050-11.236	0.834
Lamivudine Untreated	1.0
Treated	9.826	0.765-126.290	0.079