Correlation between entecavir penetration in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and HBV DNA decay during treatment of HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B

Recently, due to its high effectiveness and tolerability, the treatment of chronic hepatitis B with entecavir became a standard practice. However, limited knowledge is currently available about its pharmacokinetic behavior and intracellular disposition. Recently, our group reported an inverse correlation between entecavir plasma concentrations and the HBV DNA decay at the first and third month of treatment, respectively. ​: In this paper we investigated the disposition of entecavir in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and in plasma, in order to evaluate the relationship between intracellular penetration and response, in a cohort of naïve patients with HBeAg-negative CHB.