Introduction: The main site within the HBV
rt protein that is associated with LAM resistance is residue 204 in the highly conserved
tyrosine-methionine
Result: Interestingly, all but two individuals whose major virus population was composed of WT isolates and a small percentage of resistant variants detected by pyrosequencing had a
YIDD variant as a minor subpopulation, suggesting that the
rtM204I mutation may naturally occur more often and replicate more efficiently than
YVDD variants in environments with little or no selection pressures.