Clinical Efficacy and Safety in Telbivudine- or Tenofovir-Treated Hepatitis B e Antigen-Positive Pregnant Women

Background Telbivudine (LdT) and tenofovir (TDF) are widely used in pregnant women to prevent vertical transmission; however, limited data are available on the differences in clinical efficacy and safety between the two drugs. Methods A total of 307 hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive pregnant women with complete follow-up data were enrolled, the patients with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels <1xULN at baseline were enrolled to cohort 1 for treatment from 28 ±4 weeks gestation to delivery, while ALT levels >1xULN at baseline were enrolled to cohort 2 for treatment from 28 ±4 weeks gestation and continued after delivery. The clinical efficacy and safety was compared in LdT- and TDF-treated patients. In addition, 32 patients in cohort 1 were analysed for nucleoside analogue (NA)-related resistance mutations at baseline and after delivery. Results The results showed that HBV DNA levels were significantly lower at delivery than at baseline ( P<0.001), but the decreases in HBV DNA, ALT, total bilirubin and total bile acid levels did not differ between the LdT- and TDF-treated patients at different time points ( P>0.05) in the two cohorts. However, gastrointestinal adverse effects (vomiting) occurred more frequently in TDF-treated than LdT-treated patients (6.6% versus 0.0%; P=0.001). The results of NA-related resistance mutations analysis in cohort 1 revealed that short-term LdT or TDF treatment did not significantly change the NA-related resistance mutations ( P>0.05). Conclusions This study revealed that the clinical efficacy in LdT- or TDF-treated HBeAg-positive Chinese pregnant women is similar, and gastrointestinal adverse effects occurred more frequently in TDF-treated patients.