Efficacy of 3 years of continuous entecavir treatment in nucleos(t)ide-naive chronic hepatitis B patients

Objective To explore the efficacy of 3 years of continuous entecavir treatment in nucleos(t) ide-naive chronic hepatitis B patients.Methods A total of 82 chronic hepatitis B patients received the antiviral therapy of entecavir 0.5 mg/d.The ALT level and HBV-DNA loads before and after the treatment were observed.And the rates of ALT normalization,HBV DNA clearances,HBeAg loss and HBeAg seroconversion during the end of the therapy of year 1,2 and 3 were also studied.Results For the 82 patients,during the end of the therapy of year 1,2 and 3,the rates of ALT normalization were 79.3％ (65/82),84.2％ (69/82)and 92.7％ (76/82) ; the HBV-DNA loads were (3.108 ± 1.394),(2.637 ± 0.571) and (2.670 ± 0.982) log10 copies/ml; the rates of HBV DNA clearances were 65.9％ (54/82),81.7％ (67/82) and 89.0％ (73/82) respectively.And for the 60 cases of HBeAg positive patients,during the end of the therapy of year 1,2 and 3,the rates of HBeAg loss were 18.3％ (11/60),43.3％ (26/60) and 41.7％ (25/60) ; the rates of HBeAg seroconversion were 16.7％ (10/60),28.3％ (17/60) and 31.7％ (19/60) respectively.Conclusions Continuous entecavir treatment in nucleos(t) ide-naive chronic hepatitis B patients could inhibit HBV replication effectively,enhance ALT normalization and HBeAg seroconversion.And prolongationg of treatment may increase the rates of HBV DNA clearances,HBeAg loss and HBeAg seroconversion.\r\n\r\nKey words: \r\nHepatitis B, chronic;  Entecavir;  Treatment outcome