HBV Mutations in Mono- and Coinfected Patients

Medications used to treat hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, and vaccines and immunoglobulin used to prevent transmission of HBV, may all induce mutations in the HBV genome. Given that the genome has four overlapping genes, mutations in one gene are likely to affect the products of other genes. To determine the frequency of specific genetic mutations in the HBV genome, investigators in Spain studied 19 HBV-monoinfected and 52 HBV/HIV-coinfected patients who had been treated for at least 12 months with NRTIs that had anti-HBV activity.

Nine of the 19 monoinfected patients had been treated with adefovir + 3TC, whereas 10 had received adefovir alone. Of the 52 coinfected patients, 40 were treated with tenofovir + 3TC, 7 were treated with 3TC al…