Relapse After Stopping Oral Therapies for HBV Infection

Although oral antiviral agents are effective in suppressing the hepatitis B virus (HBV), once therapy is stopped, most patients will relapse. This has been attributed to these agents' lack of effect on covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) — liver-specific, viral DNA that allows for persistence of HBV infection. However, few studies have investigated this issue because of the requirement for liver tissue to measure the outcome.

Now, researchers have assessed the effects of oral antivirals on cccDNA levels using data collected from 124 patients with chronic HBV infection from a single center in Hong Kong. These patients had taken part in one of three phase III, multicenter, randomized, controlled trials in which they had received lamivudine…