ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT00001457Updated Mar 4, 2008

Lamivudine for Chronic Hepatitis B

A Phase 2 interventional study of Lamivudine in Chronic Hepatitis B, Chronic Hepatitis D and Glomerulonephritis, sponsored by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Completed at 1 site in United States. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2008-03-04.

Sponsored by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
60
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Chronic hepatitis B is a disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis B virus. It affects nearly 1 million Americans. Approximately 25% of patients with chronic hepatitis B will develop liver cirrhosis and 5% of patients will develop liver cancer.

Presently, two medications have been shown effective in the treatment of hepatitis B: lamivudine and alpha interferon. Alpha interferon (an antiviral drug that acts through the immune system) is given by injection once daily or three times a week for four to six months. Lamivudine (also known as 3-thiacytidine: 3TC) is an antiviral medication given as a pill once a day for twelve months. These treatments have been known to provide long-term improvement in one third of patients receiving them.

In previous research, the drug lamivudine was shown to stop the growth of the hepatitis B virus and to lead marked decreases in the levels of hepatitis B virus and to improvements in the disease in 50 to 70% of patients. However, once lamivudine therapy was discontinued the virus returned to levels noted before the therapy began. In those studies lamivudine was given for 3 to 12 months then discontinued. This study will investigate the safety and effectiveness of long-term therapy with lamivudine.

This study will select 60 patients diagnosed with hepatitis B. After a thorough medical examination and liver biopsy, subjects will be given lamivudine. The drug will be taken by mouth in tablet form (100 mg) once a day for up to 5 years. Subjects will undergo regular check-ups and after 1 year of therapy be admitted to the Clinical Center for another medical examination and liver biopsy to assess progress. Patients who have benefitted from the therapy will continue taking the medication for up to 5 years. A third liver biopsy will be done during the last year of treatment. The effectiveness of lamivudine will be determined by whether levels of hepatitis B virus decrease in the blood, whether liver enzymes improve, and whether inflammation and scarring decreases in the liver biopsies.

Read the detailed description

To assess the safety, antiviral activity and clinical benefit of lamivudine (3-thiacytidine: 3TC) in chronic hepatitis B, we will treat 60 patients with oral lamivudine in a dose of 100 mg daily for up to five years. Lamivudine is a nucleoside analogue which is used extensively in patients with HIV infection and is being studied in controlled trials in chronic hepatitis B. In this study, we will evaluate lamivudine in patients with four different forms of chronic hepatitis B: (A) Atypical serology (HBeAg negative), (B) extra-hepatic manifestations, (C) chronic delta hepatitis, (D) typical HBeAg- positive chronic hepatitis B. After evaluation and liver biopsy, patients will receive lamivudine, 100 mg orally once daily for 1 year, being monitored at regular intervals for symptoms of liver disease, side effects of lamivudine, serum biochemical and hematologic indices, and serologic markers of hepatitis B (and D) virus replication. At one year, patients will have a repeat medical evaluation and liver biopsy. If there is virologic, biochemical or histologic evidence of benefit, therapy will be continued thereafter for up to 5 years. Patients who develop viral resistance to lamivudine may be offered therapy with higher doses of lamivudine (300 mg per day). The activity of lamivudine will be assessed by changes in levels of HBV DNA or HDV RNA during treatment and its efficacy by loss of viral markers and improvements in aminotransferases and liver histology.

02

Conditions studied

  • Chronic Hepatitis B
  • Chronic Hepatitis D
  • Glomerulonephritis
  • Polyarteritis Nodosa

Keywords

  • Nucleoside Analogues
  • Delta Hepatitis
  • Glomerulonephritis
  • Polyarteritis Nodosa
  • Hepatitis Mutants
  • 3TC
  • Chronic Hepatitis B
  • Chronic Hepatitis D
  • Cirrhosis
  • Lamivudine
03

In context

Hepatitis B, Chronic

895 studies on the registry are indexed under Hepatitis B, Chronic; 151 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 60 is below the median of 100 across 659 interventional studies indexed under Hepatitis B, Chronic.

Browse Hepatitis B, Chronic studies →

Lead sponsor

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) is the lead sponsor of 538 studies on the registry; 55 are open to participants now.

Of its 80 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 51 (64%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
Child (0–17), Adult (18–64), Older adult (65+)
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

Age 18 years or above, male or female.

Known presence of in serum for at least 6 months.

Liver histology showing chronic hepatitis with or without cirrhosis.

Previous therapy with alpha interferon without a lasting effect or intolerance to alpha interferon, due to side effects.

Written .

Group A: For patients with chronic hepatitis B with atypical serology: absence of HBeAg from serum despite elevations in serum aminotransferases, such as that the average levels are greater than 55 U/L (approximately 1.3 times the ) based upon two determinations taken at least one month apart during the 6 months before entry.

Group B: For patients with glomerulonephritis: proteinuria of greater than 1 gm per 24 hours. For patients with polyarteritis, radiological proof of arteritis and involvement of at least on organ system outside of the liver.

Group C: For patients with chronic delta hepatitis: anti-HDV in serum and HDV antigen in liver biopsy or HDV RNA in serum and elevations in serum aminotransferases, such that the average levels are greater than 55 U/L based upon two determinations taken at least one month apart during the 6 months before entry.

Group D: For patients with chronic hepatitis B and typical serology: HBeAg and HBV DNA in serum but ineligibility to enter the multicenter trial of lamivudine either because of previous receipt of interferon and intolerable side effects, refusal to receive interferon again, because of normal serum aminotransferases, or lack of availability of the trial.

Exclusion criteria

EXCLUSION CRITERIA

Pregnant or if capable of bearing or fathering children must practice adequate .

Significant systemic illnesses other than liver diseases, including congestive heart failure, renal failure, chronic pancreatitis, diabetes mellitus with poor control.

Pre-existing bone marrow compromise: hematocrit must be greater than 30%, white blood cell count must be greater than 2000 mm(3), must be greater than 70,000 mm(3).

must be greater than 50 cc/min.

A history of clinically apparent pancreatitis or evidence of subclinically pancreatitis as shown by serum amylase values twice the and abnormalities of the pancreas on computerized tomography or other imaging studies of the abdomen.

Irreversibly severe cirrhosis as defined by Child's stage C.

Presence of anti- or anti- with HCV RNA in serum.

therapy requiring use of more than 10 mg of prednisone (or its equivalent) per day.

Other antiviral therapy for chronic within the previous 3 months.

Sensory or motor neuropathy apparent from medical history and physical examination.

Terms in these criteria, in plain language(10)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Hepatitis B tests

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.

Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.

Biopsy and archival tissue

A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.

Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

ULN (upper limit of normal)

The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.

“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

Platelets

Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.

Creatinine clearance (CrCl)

How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

Hepatitis C tests

Hepatitis C is a virus that infects the liver. An HCV antibody test can stay positive after an infection has cleared (and is occasionally positive without one); an HCV RNA test shows whether the virus is there now.

After treatment, hepatitis C counts as cured when HCV RNA is still undetectable 12 weeks or more after the treatment ended. Studies often accept people cured this way.

Immunosuppression

A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.

Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Enrollment
60 participants

Interventions

06

Study locations

1 site
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
    Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States
07

References and documents

Publications

  • Hoofnagle JH, di Bisceglie AM. The treatment of chronic viral hepatitis. N Engl J Med. 1997 Jan 30;336(5):347-56. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199701303360507. No abstract available. PubMed 9011789 ↗
  • Perrillo RP, Gelb L, Campbell C, Wellinghoff W, Ellis FR, Overby L, Aach RD. Hepatitis B e antigen, DNA polymerase activity, and infection of household contacts with hepatitis B virus. Gastroenterology. 1979 Jun;76(6):1319-25. PubMed 437428 ↗
  • Beasley RP, Hwang LY, Lin CC, Chien CS. Hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatitis B virus. A prospective study of 22 707 men in Taiwan. Lancet. 1981 Nov 21;2(8256):1129-33. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(81)90585-7. No abstract available. PubMed 6118576 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 4, 2008, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00001457
First posted
Nov 4, 1999
Start date
Sep 1995
Completion
Sep 2005
Last update
Mar 4, 2008
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2005. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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