title: Antiviral therapy for hepatitis B in special populations.
abstract: There has been much progress in antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis B; however, antiviral therapy for hepatitis B in special populations is still very challenging. Here, we review antiviral therapy for hepatitis B in special populations, including children and pregnant patients, patients with hepatitis-B-related cirrhosis, patients with acute hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis B surface antigen carriers who receive immunosuppressive or cytotoxic therapy. Major advances have been made in antiviral therapy for hepatitis B in these special populations because of recent increasing availability of oral nucleoside/nucleotide analogues that are well-tolerated and highly effective; however, the findings are mostly based on small uncontrolled short-term studies. More well-designed clinical studies on antiviral therapy for hepatitis B in these special populations are urgently needed to obtain more evidence-based high-quality data.
authors.affiliation: Liver Research Center, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. frankliver@yahoo.com.cn.
authors.forename: Fu-Kui
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Dian-Gang
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ji-Dong
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Jia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D000075202:Contraindications; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007223:Infant; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D009705:Nucleosides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012008:Recurrence; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D003603:Cytotoxins; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D009705:Nucleosides; D007371:Interferon-gamma