The effect of long-term entecavir therapy on liver histopathology in patients with chronic viral hepatitis B

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate histopathological improvement and virological, biological and serological response rates in patients receiving long-term entecavir therapy who were followed with the diagnosis of chronic hepatitis B (CHB).Materials and Methods: Ninety-eight nucleoside(t)e-naive CHB patients who were receiving 0.5mg/day entecavir (ETV) were included in the study. Virological, serological and biochemical test results were assessed baseline and every 12-week intervals. Liver biopsy specimens were assessed according to the modified Ishak scoring.Results: Forty-six CHB patients receiving ETV treatment underwent liver biopsy. The mean age of the patients was 4412.9, 26.1% of them were female. The mean duration of follow-up was 44.9 +/- 10.8months. All patients had hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype D infection. Of 21 patients who were HBeAg positive at baseline, HBeAg loss occurred in 9 and seroconversion occurred in 5. HBsAg loss occurred in none of the patients. Serum HBV DNA levels became undetectable in 93.5% patients. Of the patients, 50% achieved2 point improvement in HAI scores and 30.4% achieved1 point improvement in fibrosis scores with treatment. The mean improvement in HAI and fibrosis score were 1.94 +/- 1.93 and 0.11 +/- 0.9 points, respectively.Conclusion: ETV is an effective treatment in histological improvement and virological response in CHB patients. Large-scale, long-term studies are still warranted to evaluate the long-term outcomes of entecavir therapy.