title: Advances in therapeutics for chronic hepatitis B.
abstract: Chronic hepatitis B infection remains a major disease burden globally, and leads to high risk of hepatocellular carcinoma development. Current therapies of nucleot(s)ide analogues and interferon alpha treatment remain limited in their efficacy. Several key findings in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) life cycle have led to the development of novel antiviral drugs to inhibit viral replication and persistence. In addition, recent studies on HBV-specific innate and adaptive immune responses have advanced development of immunotherapy to restore immune mediated virus control in chronic hepatitis B patients. In this review, we discuss potential new therapeutic strategies targeting HBV or the host immune system that might lead to a sustained cure for chronic hepatitis B.
authors.affiliation: Viral Hepatitis Laboratory, Singapore Institute of Clinical Sciences (SICS), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore. yang_ninghan@sics.a-star.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Ninghan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Viral Hepatitis Laboratory, Singapore Institute of Clinical Sciences (SICS), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore. antonio@sics.a-star.edu.sg.|Emerging Infectious Disease (EID) Program, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore, Singapore. antonio@sics.a-star.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bertoletti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents
keywords: Antiviral drugs; Chronic hepatitis B; Hepatitis B virus; Immunity; Immunotherapy; Viral replication