Treatment of chronic hepatitis B.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is the leading cause of chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide. Approximately 350 million individuals are infected with HBV and >500,000 deaths per year can be attributed to HBV. Although universal vaccination has reduced HBV incidence in many countries, it still remains a major public health problem, especially in parts of Asia and Africa. Improved understanding of HBV virology and virus-host interactions has revolutionized chronic hepatitis B therapy in the past two decades. Development of oral nucleoside/nucleotide analogues heralds a new era of safe and effective treatment of this disease. On the basis of these advances, new guidelines for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B have been issued. Successful long-term treatment of chronic hepatitis B may rest on combination therapy that is based on molecular approaches targeting various stages of the HBV life-cycle. In this review, we summarize the current modalities and highlight important issues in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B monoinfection.
Loomba
Rohit
R
Liver Diseases Branch, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MA, USA. roloomba@ucsd.edu
Liang
T Jake
TJ
D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001706:Biopsy; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects
D000998:Antiviral Agents; D007372:Interferons