Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to analyze the efficacy and risks of lamivudine and telbivudine in blocking mother-to-infant intrauterine infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV). Methods 120 pregnant women with chronic hepatitis B viral carrier were enrolled in our hospital between June 2014 and June 2018, and at gestation 28 week, 40 pregnant women received lamivudine, 40 received telbivudine for antiviral therapy, and another 20 did not receive any antiviral agents. The antiviral regimen discontinued immediately after giving birth. All women and their children were followed-up for 12 months. Serum HBV DNA, HBsAg and HBsAb were assayed. Results At presentation, serum HBV DNA loads in the three groups were not significantly different (P>0.05); at delivery, serum HBV DNA loss were 100.0% in both groups receiving anti-viral therapy, hence their serum viral loads were significantly lower than that in the women without antiviral therapy 【(7.6±1.5)lg copies/ml, P<0.05】, and three months after delivery, serum HBV DNA in the two antiviral groups returned back to high levels before enrollment, without significantly differences to that in the control (P<0.05); at delivery, serum HBsAg prevalence in 40 newborns in lamivudine-treated, 40 in telbivudine-treated, and 21 in non-antiviral therapy group were 5.0%, 5.0% and 9.5%(P>0.05), and atone year old, their serumHBsAg prevalence were 7.5%, 5.0% and 14.3%, with serum anti-HBs positive rates of 92.5%, 95.0% and 85.7%, respectively(P>0.05); during antiviral therapy, the incidence of rash, transient serum ALT elevation and creatinene kinase elevation in women with lamivudine treatment were 5.0%, 2.5% and 2.5%, not much different as compared to 2.5%, 7.5% and 5.0%, in telbivudine-treated women (P>0.05). Conclusion Both lamivudine and telbivudine could effectively reduce serum HBV DNA loads in pregnant women with hepatitis B infection, which might help block HBV intrauterine infection from mother to infants, and the medication is relatively safe as no severe untoward effects is found during the antiviral therapy.

Key words: Hepatitis B viral carriers, Lamivudine, Tibivudine, Intrauterine infection, Mother-to-child transmission, Pregnancy