Journal
LIVER INTERNATIONAL
Volume 36, Issue 6, Pages 775-782Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/liv.13086
Keywords
episomal DNA; integrative therapy; viral eradication
Categories
Funding
- Israeli Science Foundation (ISF)
- Beilinson Hospital
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Approximately 350 million people worldwide are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV), representing a significant public health challenge. Nucleos/tide analogues (NUCs) and interferon alpha (IFN alpha), the current standard of care for chronic infection, aim at preventing progression of the disease to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and death. However, in contrast to the case of hepatitis C virus infection, in which novel antiviral drugs cure the vast majority of treated patients, in regard to HBV, cure is rare due to the unusual persistence of viral DNA in the form of covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) within the nucleus of infected cells. Available therapies for HBV require lifelong treatment and surveillance, as reactivation frequently occurs following medication cessation and the occurrence of HCC is decreased but not eliminated, even after years of successful viral suppression. Progress has been made in the development of new therapeutics, and it is likely that only a combination of immune modulators, inhibitors of gene expression and replication and cccDNA-targeting drugs will eradicate chronic infection. This review aims to summarize the state of the art in HBV drug research highlighting those agents with the greatest potential for success based on in vitro as well as on data from clinical studies.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available