Efficacy of tenofovir and entecavir in patients who relapsed after pegylated interferon therapy

Abstract

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections and sequelae present significant health problems worldwide. Two groups of medications are available for chronic HBV infection treatment: (1) interferons (IFNs) and (2) nucleos(t)ide analogues. This study aimed to evaluate entecavir (ETV) and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) efficacies in chronic HBV patients, who achieved virological response during Peg-IFN treatment but did not sustain this response and relapsed a year after treatment end. In this study, 74 patients with chronic HBV infection who had virological responses to 180 μg/week Peg-IFNα-2a treatment were included; 38 (20 and 18 HBeAg positive and negative, respectively) of these patients were treated with 245 mg/day TDF, and 36 (20 and 16 HBeAg positive and negative, respectively) were treated with 0.5 mg/day ETV upon relapse after initial treatment discontinuation. In HBeAg-positive patients biochemical response rates were higher for TDF at weeks 96 and 144 (p = 0.044 and 0.019, respectively). However, biochemical response rates were similar for TDF and ETV in HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative groups at other weeks (p > 0.05). Virological and serological response rates were similar in patients treated with TDF and ETV in HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative groups (p > 0.05).

Keywords:

• Entecavir
• Hepatitis B
• Tenofovir

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Şükran Köse, Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, University of Health Sciences Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.

Dr. Tuba Tatli Kiş, Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, University of Health Sciences Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.

Sabri Atalay, Associate Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, University of Health Sciences Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.