Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Practice Point
  • Published:

Is lamivudine a safe and effective therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis B and advanced liver disease?

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Kapoor D et al. (2000) Beneficial effects of lamivudine in hepatitis B virus-related decompensated cirrhosis. J Hepatol 33: 308–312

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Villeneuve JP et al. (2000) Lamivudine treatment for decompensated cirrhosis resulting from chronic hepatitis B. Hepatology 31: 207–210

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Fontana RJ et al. (2002) Determinants of early mortality in patients with decompensated chronic hepatitis B treated with antiviral therapy. Gastroenterology 123: 719–727

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Manolakopoulos S et al. (2004) Clinical course of lamivudine monotherapy in patients with decompensated cirrhosis due to HBeAg negative chronic HBV infection. Am J Gastroenterol 99: 57–63

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Perrillo R et al. (2004) Adefovir dipivoxil added to ongoing lamivudine in chronic hepatitis B with YMDD mutant hepatitis B virus. Gastroenterology 126: 81–90

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The synopsis was written by Rachel Jones, Associate Editor, Nature Clinical Practice.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter Karayiannis.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Glossary

ISHAK FIBROSIS SCORE

A score that grades liver histology according to the intensity of necroinflammatory activity, and stages the degree of fibrosis and architectural damage

YMDD

Tyrosine–methionine–aspartate–aspartate motif in the catalytic domain of the viral polymerase/reverse transcriptase

CHILD-PUGH SCORE

A scoring system used to evaluate prognosis of cirrhosis. Serum levels of bilirubin and albumin, prothrombin time, ascites, and encephalopathy are measured, and patients are divided into classes A (score 5–6), B (7–9) and C (10–15)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Karayiannis, P., Thomas, H. Is lamivudine a safe and effective therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis B and advanced liver disease?. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 2, 138–139 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpgasthep0118

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpgasthep0118

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing