Successful treatment of an entecavir-resistant hepatitis B virus variant

Emergence of a lamivudine (LAM)-resistant hepatitis B virus (HBV) with amino acid substitutions in the YMDD motif is a well-documented problem during long-term LAM therapy. Entecavir (ETV) is a new drug approved for treatment of HBV infection with or without LAM-resistant mutants. This report describes an ETV-resistant strain of HBV, which emerged after prolonged ETV therapy in a patient who did not respond to LAM therapy. Direct sequence analysis of the ETV-resistant strain showed appearance of amino acid substitution rtS202G in the reverse transcriptase (RT) domain, together with rtL180M + M204V substitution that had developed at the emergence of LAM-resistant mutant. In vitro analysis demonstrated that the rtL180M + M204V + S202G mutant strain displayed a 200-fold and a 5-fold reduction in susceptibility to ETV compared with the wildtype and the rtL180M+M204V mutant strain, respectively. Adefovir was effective against the ETV-resistant strain both in vitro and during the clinical course. In conclusion, this study showed that virological and biochemical breakthrough due to ETV could occur in patients infected with LAM-resistant HBV and confirmed that the addition of rtS202G substitution to the rtL180M + M204V mutant strain is responsible for ETV resistance and we could treat the resistant mutant successfully.