Treatment medication patterns and follow-up evaluation on clinical, biochemical, and laboratory parameters in patients with hepatitis B virus infection

Abstract

The aims of this study were to compare the efficacy between tenofovir (TDF) and entecavir (ETV) mono-therapy for 24 months and to assess the gender differences in the clinical prognosis in Korean patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). This study was retrospectively conducted with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected patients taking TDF or ETV between July 2012 and June 2016 in Chosun University Hospital, Gwangju, South Korea. Data were collected through the review of Electronic Medical Records. Among 1,450 patients during the study period, 130 were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. At baseline, the rate of hepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg)-positivity in TDF was higher than that of HBeAg-positivity in ETV, showing a significant difference (84.4% vs. 57.8%, p = 0.0020). However, these rates in both TDF and ETV became similar at 3 months, and this tendency had continued after 3 months. There were no significant dif-ferences in the changes of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels during the follow-up period between TDF and ETV. However, these levels were almost normalized within 3 months, and the normal levels had also been kept after 3 months. Men tended to have more liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma than women. ALT levels had been continuously higher in men than in women, showing significant differences at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. TDF is more likely than ETV to be a potent option for CHB patients with severe liver diseases, especially men, because TDF tended to decrease the parameters related with HBV infection (e.g., ALT, AST, and HBV DNA level) more rapidly within 3 months than ETV.