Prevalence, incidence, and clinical relevance of the reverse transcriptase V207I mutation outside the YMDD motif of the hepatitis B virus polymerase during lamivudine therapy.

The reverse transcriptase V207I mutation within the hepatitis B virus (HBV) polymerase is associated with resistance to lamivudine in vitro. The prevalence of this mutation in treatment-naive patients was 1% (1/96). A follow-up of the patient carrying this mutation prior to treatment revealed no loss of sensitivity of HBV to lamivudine in vivo.