Dual Efficacy of Lamivudine Treatment in Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Hepatitis B Virus—Coinfected Persons in a Randomized, Controlled Study (CAESAR)

The efficacy and safety of lamivudine in persons coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 and hepatitis B virus (HBV) were examined in the CAESAR study, a randomized placebo-controlled trial assessing the addition of lamivudine (150 mg 2×/day) or lamivudine (150 mg 2×/day) plus loviride (100 mg 3×/day) to zidovudine-containing background antiretroviral treatment. Baseline hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) results were available for 1790 study subjects, of whom 122 (6.8%) tested positive. Retrospective analyses for serial HBV DNA, HBsAg, and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) were performed on stored sera from 118 HBsAg-positive subjects. HBV DNA and HBeAg were present in 83% and 63%, respectively. At weeks 12 and 52, median log10 HBV DNA change was −2.0 and −2.7, respectively, in the lamivudine arms, compared with no reduction among placebo recipients (P < .001). A trend to lower alanine transferase level, and delayed progression of HIV-1 disease (relative hazard, 0.26; 95% confidence interval, 0.08–0.80) were also seen in the lamivudine arms, compared with the placebo group.