Histological improvement of long-term antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis B patients with persistently normal alanine aminotransferase levels.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the histological outcomes of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with persistently normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels after long-term antiviral therapy. Paired liver biopsies before and after lamivudine (LAM) treatment in CHB patients with normal and elevated ALT levels were compared. Histological response was defined as a 1-point decrease according to the Scheuer scoring system, without worsening of fibrosis between pretreatment and posttreatment biopsies. Among the 48 patients who underwent paired liver biopsies, 17 had persistently normal baseline ALT level and 31 had elevated ALT level. The median age of the patients was 44 years and 72.9% of the patients were male. The median duration of antiviral treatment was 44.5 months (range 14-104). Long-term follow-up of liver biopsies revealed that 82.4% of patients in the normal ALT group and 61.3% in the elevated ALT group had a baseline fibrosis score of 4, which was reduced to 17.6% and 38.7% after long-term therapy, respectively, indicating reversal of cirrhosis in a large proportion of both groups, especially in patients with normal baseline ALT levels. Long-term antiviral treatment could achieve significant histological improvement in CHB patients with fibrosis or cirrhosis, regardless of ALT level.