Hepatitis B virus pre-existing drug resistant mutation is related to the genotype and disease progression

Abstract

Introduction: Previous studies have indicated that the drug-resistant mutations of hepatitis B virus (HBV) are a major obstacle to antiviral therapy. However, it is still unclear whether there are pre-existent resistance mutations in patients with HBV infection and the relationship between drug-resistant mutation, genotypes, and progression of hepatitis B disease. Methodology: A total of 357 treatment-naïve patients with HBV infection were involved in this retrospective study. The drug-resistant mutations of HBV reverse transcriptase domain were screened by direct gene sequencing. Results: Lamivudine (LAM) resistance was detected in 8 patients (3.7%) with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 13 (11.7%) patients with liver cirrhosis (LC), and 6 (21.4%) patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Adefovir(ADV)-resistant mutations were detected in 10 (4.6%) patients with CHB, 15 (13.5%) patients with LC and 4 (14.5%) patients with HCC. Both LAM and ADV resistant mutations were detected in 2 patients (0.9%) with CHB, 1 patient (0.9%) with LC and 1 patient (3.6%) with HCC. Significant differences (p <0.01) were observed in the drug-resistance rates among patients with CHB, LC and HCC. Meanwhile, all the drug-resistant mutations were found in patients with HBV genotype C. Conclusions: This study demonstrated higher risk of pre-existing drug-resistant mutations in patients with HBV genotype C comparing to patients with HBV genotype B. Likewise, increasing prevalence of pre-existing drug-resistant mutations was shown, alongside with the progression of the disease.