Abstract
BackgroundCurrently, there is no evidence on the combination of lamivudine and thymosin alpha-1 on chronic hepatitis B patients. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of lamivudine monotherapy with that of lamivudine and thymosin alpha-1 combination therapy for the treatment of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive hepatitis B patients.ResultsWe searched PUBMED (from 1966 onwards), EMBASE (from 1966), CBMdisk (Chinese Biomedical Database, from 1978), CNKI (National Knowledge Infrastructure, from 1980), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Eight trials (583 patients in total) were identified. The lamivudine and thymosin alpha-1 combination treatment was significantly superior to lamivudine treatment in terms of ALT normalization rate (80.2% vs. 68.8%, P = 0.01), virological response rate (84.7% vs. 74.9%, P = 0.002), and HBeAg seroconversion rate (45.1% vs. 15.2%, P < 0.00001).ConclusionAmong HBeAg-positive patients, thymosin alpha-1 and lamivudine combination therapy may be more effective than lamivudine monotherapy, providing superior rates of biochemical response, virological response, and HBeAg seroconversion.
Highlights
There is no evidence on the combination of lamivudine and thymosin alpha-1 on chronic hepatitis B patients
Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV) that affects more than 400 million people worldwide [1,2,3,4]
Chronic HBV infection is a serious problem associated with cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma [5], which are becoming more prevalent worldwide, especially in Asia where the virus is often transmitted from mother to child at birth [6]
Summary
There is no evidence on the combination of lamivudine and thymosin alpha-1 on chronic hepatitis B patients. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of lamivudine monotherapy with that of lamivudine and thymosin alpha-1 combination therapy for the treatment of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive hepatitis B patients. Interferon, an immunomodulating agent, is effective in clearing the virus but is associated with adverse effects. Nucleoside analogues, such as lamivudine, can control HBV infection but have drug-resistant strains of HBV are increasingly prevalent [7]. They are effective in the therapy of chronic HBV infection but the efficacy is far from satisfactory. Persistent HBV infection represents a clear unmet need for improved antiviral therapeutic modalities
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