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Several oral agents have been approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections. The most recently approved agent, telbivudine, is more efficacious than lamivudine (Journal Watch Gastroenterology Dec 19 2007). Now, investigators have performed a randomized, controlled, open-label trial to compare the antiviral efficacy of telbivudine with that of adefovir and to study the effects of switching therapy from adefovir to telbivudine.
Researchers enrolled 135 adults (age range, 18–70) who had no history of hepatic decompensation, who were positive for serum HB surface antigen and HB e antigen, who had alanine aminotransferase levels 1.3–10.0× the upper limit of normal, and who had HBV DNA levels ≥6 log10 copies/mL. More tha…