Nucleoside analogue therapy in fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis--a case report in an HBsAg positive renal transplant recipient

Lamivudine in the Treatment of HBV-related Liver Disease after Renal Transplantation: An Update

Diminished survival due to hepatitis B has been observed after renal transplantation (RT). Lamivudine, a second-generation nucleoside analogue, has been approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in patients with normal renal function. Numerous clinical experiences with lamivudine after RT have been recently published. Despite numerous shortcomings, all of these reports have shown encouraging results. The rate of clearance of HBV viremia ranged between 67% and 100%, and the frequency of ALT normalization was between 50% and 100% with lamivudine use. Even patients with fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis, a serious form of HBV-related liver disease with ominous course, have been successfully treated with lamivudine. Lamivudine therapy significantly improved the survival of HBsAg positive renal allograft recipients. However, numerous issues concerning the treatment of hepatitis B after RT remain unclear: the optimal time to initiate lamivudine, the appropriate duration of antiviral therapy after RT, and the role for pre-transplantation liver biopsy. Also, the management of lamivudine resistance remains a concern for physicians. Clinical trials are under way.

Characterization and risk of blood-borne virus transmission in organ transplantation: what are the priorities?

ABSTRACT 

Blood-borne virus transmission through organ transplantation, although rare, has been associated with severe complications in recipients. There are few data available to ascertain the risk of infection in organ transplantation for known and emerging pathogens, as most information comes from events of transmission, which are rare and not always well characterized. The balance between quality of life through organ transplantation and the risks of donor-derived infection can be improved through advances in donor screening, enhanced monitoring and a multidisciplinary approach to improving donor assessment and recipient biosurveillance. The involvement of investigators with clinical, laboratory, surveillance and policy expertise is critical to bridge research knowledge and clinical practice.

Hepatitis B: epidemiological, immunological, and serological considerations emphasizing mutation

The global prevalence of hepatitis B virus is estimated to be 350 million chronic carriers, varying widely from low (<2%, as in Western Europe, North America, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan) to high (>8% as in Africa, Southeast Asia, and China). The overall prevalence in Brazil is about 8%. There are currently 7 genotypic variations, from A to G, and also 4 main surface antigen subtypes: adw, ayw, adr, and ayr. There has been great interest in identifying the geographic distribution and prognosis associated with the various genotypes and subtypes. Although the serologic test is highly sensitive and specific, it does not detect cases of mutant hepatitis B, which is increasingly common worldwide due to resistance and vaccine escape, antiviral therapy, and immunosuppression, among other causes. Alterations in surface, polymerase, X region, core, and precore genes have been described. The main mutations occur in surface and in core/precore genes, also known as occult hepatitis, since its serologic markers of active infection (HBsAg) and viral replication (HBeAg) can be negative. Thus, mutation should be suspected when serologic tests to hepatitis B show control of immunity or replication coincident with worsened clinical status and exclusion of other causes of hepatitis.

Prevention of and treatment for hepatitis B virus infection after liver transplantation in the nucleoside analogues era

Post-transplant prophylaxis with hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG) has significantly reduced hepatitis B virus (HBV) recurrence rates, but it is rather ineffective in patients with pretransplant viremia. Moreover, long-term HBIG administration is very expensive and may be associated with emergence of escape HBV mutants. Lamivudine has been widely used in the management of HBV transplant patients. Pretransplant lamivudine lowers HBV viremia, decreasing the risk of post-transplant HBV recurrence, but to try and minimize development of resistant HBV strains, it should start within the last 6 months of the anticipated transplantation timing. Preemptive post-transplant lamivudine monotherapy is associated with progressively increasing HBV recurrence rates, but combined therapy with lamivudine and HBIG at relatively low dosage is currently the most effective approach in this setting, even in HBV-DNA-positive patients, who also receive lamivudine in the pretransplant period. The most frequent therapy for post-transplant HBV recurrence is lamivudine, but the increasing resistance rates represent a rather challenging problem. Adefovir dipivoxil and entecavir are currently the most promising agents for lamivudine-resistant HBV strains. All these advances in anti-HBV therapy have made HBV liver disease an indication for liver transplantation irrespective of viral replication status, a complete turn around from 10 years ago.

Successful treatment of fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis using adefovir dipivoxil in a patient with cirrhosis and renal insufficiency

Fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis is a deleterious manifestation of hepatitis B virus infection in immunocompromised patients. Without treatment, this condition is usually fatal within weeks of onset. Liver retransplantation has not been successfully performed to date, and treatment intervention was generally unsuccessful before the advent of adefovir dipivoxil. However, concerns have been expressed about the use of this agent in patients who are renally compromised. A 40-year-old liver transplant recipient with hepatitis B virus reinfection, resistance to lamivudine, and fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis complicated by terminal renal impairment and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis was treated with adefovir dipivoxil 10 mg after every dialysis. Since initiating treatment with adefovir dipivoxil 10 mg, a dramatic virologic and clinical improvement was observed in this patient. The patient returned to work full-time within 6 months of starting adefovir dipivoxil without the need for liver retransplantation. Serum HBV DNA (Amplicor HBV; Roche Diagnostics, Basle, Switzerland) decreased by 6 log(10) copies/mL and became negative (< 400 copies/mL) within 8 weeks of treatment and remains negative at the last available assessment. The patient continues to require renal dialysis, but is generally well. Creatinine clearance improved from 8 mL/min to 16 mL/min during the course of treatment. No adverse events related to adefovir dipivoxil were observed. Adefovir dipivoxil resulted in significant clinical improvement in this patient with hepatitis B virus-induced fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis, despite the presence of renal impairment and lamivudine resistance.

Four cases of hepatitis B virus-related fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis treated with lamivudine

Fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis (FCH) is a rare and extremely severe form of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. This condition was originally described in HBV-infected recipients after a liver transplantation. Recently, FCH has been reported not only in liver transplant recipients, but also in other immunosuppressed patients. It is characterized clinically by cholestatic hepatic dysfunction, and pathologically by severe periportal fibrosis, cholestasis, widespread balloon degeneration of hepatocytes, and only a mild infiltration of inflammatory cells. Without treatment, FCH is universally fatal within a few months of diagnosis. There have been only two isolated case reports of FCH with long-term patient survival, and one case report with treatment failure after lamivudine therapy. Because of the rarity of this clinical entity, the therapeutic efficacy of lamivudine in patients with FCH cannot be evaluated systematically. Here, we present four patients with HBV-related FCH treated with lamivudine. One received antineoplastic therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and the other three were renal graft recipients. Two patients who developed FCH after a renal transplantation survived with an improvement in liver function and were followed up for 20 and 30 months, respectively, and were found to be in good health. However, the other two patients died of sepsis, possibly as a consequence of the immunosuppression with hepatic failure despite lamivudine treatment. Our experience suggests that lamivudine can alter the grave natural history of FCH.

Hepatitis B in transplantation

Hepatitis B has been a major challenge within the field of transplantation over the past few decades. Due to aggressive recurrence post-transplant, patients with hepatitis B have been excluded from the benefits of both solid organ and bone marrow transplants. Progress has been made, however, through an improved understanding of the biology of hepatitis B and the development of new antiviral strategies that can reliably suppress the virus. Patients with hepatitis B are now candidates for transplantation in an increasing number of circumstances. Careful pre-transplant evaluation is mandatory, together with a tailored antiviral regimen depending on the replicative status of the virus and the organ being transplanted. Minimizing steroid dose following transplantation is an important part of the strategy to reduce the risk of viral reactivation. Lamivudine has been an important development and it has assumed an increasing role in the management of these patients. As additional antivirals are developed, increasingly effective drug combinations will prevent viral recurrence as well as the emergence of drug-resistant mutants, which plagues the use of single agents. It is a rapidly evolving field and there is every reason for continued optimism.

Lamivudine. A review of its therapeutic potential in chronic hepatitis B

Lamivudine is a deoxycytidine analogue that is active against hepatitis B virus (HBV). In patients with chronic hepatitis B, lamivudine profoundly suppresses HBV replication. Clinically significant improvements in liver histology and biochemical parameters were obtained with lamivudine in double-blind, randomised, trials in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive patients with chronic hepatitis B and compensated liver disease. After 52 weeks of treatment, relative to placebo (< or = 25%), significantly more Chinese (56%) or Western patients (52%) treated with lamivudine 100 mg/day had reductions of > or = 2 or more points in Knodell necro-inflammatory scores. Moreover, significantly fewer lamivudine 100 mg/day than placebo recipients had progressive fibrosis in liver biopsies (< or = 5 vs > or = 15%) and fewer lamivudine- than placebo-treated patients progressed to cirrhosis (1.8 vs 7.1%). More lamivudine 100 mg/day than placebo recipients acquired antibodies to HBeAg after 52 weeks (16 vs 4% in Chinese patients and 17 vs 6% in Western patients). ALT levels normalised in significantly more lamivudine than placebo recipients enrolled in these trials. In HBeAg-negative, HBV DNA positive patients with compensated liver disease enrolled in a double-blind, randomised study, HBV DNA levels were suppressed to below the limit of detection (< 2.5 pg/ml) and ALT levels normalised in 63% and 6% of patients treated with lamivudine 100 mg/day or placebo for 24 weeks. Clinically significant improvements in liver histology were obtained in 60% of patients treated with lamivudine for 52 weeks in this study. Lamivudine 100 mg/day for 52 weeks produced similar or significantly greater improvements in liver histology and ALT levels than 24 weeks' treatment with lamivudine plus interferon-alpha. In liver transplant candidates with chronic hepatitis B and end-stage liver disease, lamivudine 100 mg/day alone, or in combination with hepatitis B immune globulin, generally suppressed HBV replication and appeared to protect the grafted liver from reinfection. Lamivudine 100 mg/day suppressed viral replication and improved liver histology in liver transplant recipients with recurrent or de novo chronic hepatitis B. Lamivudine 300 or 600 mg/day reduced HBV replication in HIV-positive patients. The incidence of adverse events in patients with chronic hepatitis B and compensated liver disease treated with lamivudine 100 mg/day or placebo for 52 to 68 weeks was similar. 3.1- to 10-fold increases in ALT over baseline occurred in 13% of patients during treatment with lamivudine 100 mg/day or placebo for 52 weeks. Post-treatment ALT elevations were more common in lamivudine than placebo recipients; however, these generally resolved spontaneously; < or = 1.5% of lamivudine- or placebo-treated patients experienced hepatic decompensation.

CONCLUSION

Lamivudine inhibits HBV replication, reduces hepatic necro-inflammatory activity and the progression of fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B, ongoing viral replication and compensated liver disease including HBeAg-negative patients. The drug also suppresses viral replication in liver transplant recipients and HIV-positive patients. Thus, lamivudine is potentially useful in a wide range of patients with chronic hepatitis B and ongoing viral replication.