Telbivudine or lamivudine use in late pregnancy safely reduces perinatal transmission of hepatitis B virus in real-life practice

Little observational data exist describing telbivudine (LdT) or lamivudine (LAM) use in late pregnancy for preventing hepatitis B mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) in real-world settings. During the period of January 2009 to March 2011, we enrolled hepatitis B e antigen–positive mothers with HBV DNA >6 log(10) copies/mL in China. At gestation week 28, the mothers received LdT or LAM until postpartum week 4 or no treatment (NTx). The study endpoints were the safety of LdT/LAM use and MTCT rates. Of the 700 mothers enrolled, 648 (LdT/LAM/NTx = 252/51/345) completed the 52-week study with 661 infants (LdT/LAM/NTx = 257/52/352). On treatment, viral rebound occurred in 1.6% of mothers, all resulting from medication noncompliance. There was no genotypic mutation detected. At delivery, significantly lower HBV DNA levels were noted in mothers who received LdT or LAM versus NTx. Alanine aminotransferase flares were observed in 17.1% of treated mothers versus 6.3% of untreated mothers (P < 0.001). At birth, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was detected in 20% and 24% of newborns in the treated and NTx groups, respectively. At week 52, an intention-to-treat analysis indicated 2.2% (95% confidence [CI]: 0.6-3.8) of HBsAg(+) infants from the treated group versus 7.6% (95% CI: 4.9-10.3) in the NTx group (P = 0.001) and no difference of HBsAg(+) rate between infants in the LdT and LAM groups (1.9% vs. 3.7%; P = 0.758). On-treatment analysis indicated 0% of HBsAg(+) infants in the treated group versus 2.84% in the NTx group (P = 0.002). There were no differences for gestational age or infants' height, weight, Apgar scores, or birth defect rates between infants from the treated and untreated groups. Conclusions: LdT and LAM use in late pregnancy for highly viremic mothers was equally effective in reducing MTCT. The treatment was well tolerated with no safety concerns identified.