Efficacy compared between entecavir and adefovir dipivoxil on HBeAg-positive nucleos(t)ide-naive patients with chronic hepatitis B at week 12 and week 48

ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy of entecavir and adefovir dipivoxil on HBeAg-positive nucleos(t)ide-naive patients with chronic hepatitis B with the method of Meta analysis.MethodsWe searched PUBMED, EMBASE, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews with reference to all data documented before May 2010. The dosage of entecavir and adefovir dipivoxil was 0.5 mg/d and 10 mg/d, respectively. Heterogeneity was examined by Chi-square test, the relative risk calculated and forest plot drawn. Rates of undetected serum HBV DNA, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) normalization, HBeAg clearance, HBeAg seroconversion and adverse effect occurrence were analyzed.ResultsSix articles were included, which fit well in with this study. Meta analysis showed that the rate of undetected serum HBV DNA(P=0.000 2 at week 12, P=0.002 at week 48) and that of serum ALT normalization(P=0.04 at week 12, P=0.008 at week 48) in the entecavir group were higher than those in the adefovir dipivoxil group. However, no statistic significance existed between the two groups in the rate of HBeAg clearance (P=0.17), the rate of HBeAg seroconversion(P=0.53) or the rate of adverse effect occurrence(P=0.92) at week 48.ConclusionEntecavir was superior to adefovir dipivoxil in decreasing serum HBV DNA and normalizing serum ALT in the HBeAg-positive nucleos(t)ide-naive patients with chronic hepatitis B.