Antiviral drug resistance rates among patients with chronic hepatitis B infection

Introduction and aim. Chronic hepatitis B infection (CHB) affects millions of people around the world. Many clinicians find it challenging to choose therapeutic agents due to the mutations that occur in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) that cause drug resistance. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the HBV resistance rates against the currently recommended first-line therapies in the region of our country where HBV prevalence is high. Material and methods. A total of 96 patients (56 men and 40 women) with HBV infection were enrolled in the study. The serum samples collected from those were analyzed with real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis followed by pyrosequencing (PyroStar HBV Drug Resistance Test, Altona Diagnostics, Germany) for drug resistance mutations associated with lamivudine, adefovir, telbivudine, entecavir, and tenofovir. Results. HBV drug-resistance mutations were investigated in 80 treatment-naïve and 16 treatment-experienced patients (6 entecavir, 4 PEGylated-interferon, 4 tenofovir, 2 lamivudine). None of the HBV-DNA samples had mutations cause to drug resistance were detected in any codons regions that were analyzed. Conclusion. Antiviral resistance poses serious obstacles for clinicians in the treatment of CHB. Determining whether antiviral resistance exists in HBV is critical to choose the appropriate treatment agent.