Objective To explore the offects of mutations in tyrosine-methionine-aspartic acid-aspartic acid (YMDD) motif of the polymerase in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome on lamivudine antiviral therapy. Methods Partial HBV DNA segment containing the YMDD motif in the P gene wes obtained through amplifi- cation by polymerase chain reaction (PCR )from 19 chronic hepatitis B patients with serum HBV DNA positive at the 48th week treatment with lamivudine and subjected to automatic sequencing. Influences of vartants with YMDD mutations on lamivudine therapy were seen by observing the dynamic changes of serum HBV DNA and ALT levels. Results Serum HBV DNA breakthrough was found in 3 out of 10 individuals with detection of the YMDD mutations at the 48th week and in 5 at the 52th week, 2 of the 5 patients accompanied by serum ALT re-elevation, whereas of 9 subjects without YMDD mutations, 2 experenced an HBV DNA breakthrough at the 48th week and 1 of them had a conversion from HBV DNA positive DNA positive to negative at the 52th week. Patients with detectable HBV DNA level had a fluctuating level of serum ALT all time during the treatment. Conclusion Detection of mutations in the YMDD motif of polymerase gene in HBV genome during the lamivudine therapy will be helpful to monitoring its therapeutic outcomes.
