Abstract
Perinatal transmission - from mother to fetus - is one of the main transmission routes of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection. Lamivudine therapy has been reported to prevent the replication of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in pregnant women with a high viral load that can lead to perinatal transmission. This study sought to evaluate retrospectively the efficacy and safety of lamivudine treatment in pregnant women with CHB and a high viral load. Biochemical parameters, and virological and serological responses at the 32ndand 36thweek of gestation and after labor were recorded. The complications of CHB and the adverse effects of lamivudine treatment were also recorded. Following 8 weeks of lamivudine treatment, HBV viral load decreased to levels ≤ 10,000 copies/ml in five of the seven patients (71%) and in three patients (43%), HBV DNA was found to be completely negative after labor. Neither adverse effects caused by lamivudine treatment nor complications due to CHB infection were experienced by mothers or infants. The results of this study suggest that lamivudine therapy in highly viremic hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive pregnant women could decrease perinatal transmission rates of HBV, and can lower the HBV viral load during labor.
Highlights
Perinatal transmission – from mother to fetus – is one of the main transmission routes of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection
This study aimed to evaluate retrospectively the efficacy and safety of lamivudine treatment in pregnant women with CHB and high viral loads when given during the last trimester
A total of four patients had a history of previous interferon usage, and one patient was treated with lamivudine and adefovir before pregnancy
Summary
Perinatal transmission – from mother to fetus – is one of the main transmission routes of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection. Lamivudine therapy has been reported to prevent the replication of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in pregnant women with a high viral load that can lead to perinatal transmission. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that lamivudine therapy in highly viremic hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive pregnant women could decrease perinatal transmission rates of HBV, and can lower the HBV viral load during labor. Perinatal transmission – from mother to fetus – is one of the main causes of transmission of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection [1]. Further studies reported that lamivudine therapy prevented the replication of HBV in pregnant women with a high viral load [1,11,12]
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