title: Hepatitis B virus therapy: What's the future holding for us?
abstract: Hepatitis B is one of the leading causes of liver cancer worldwide and unfortunately the number of people affected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is still on the rise. Although the HBV has been known to cause fatal illness since decades but the population effected by this lethal virus have still only a few options for its management. The major treatment strategies include interferons and nucleos(t)ide analogues. These agents have so far produced unsatisfactory results in terms of complete virus eradication. Interferons cannot be used for long term therapy because of their potential side effects. Prolong treatment with nucleos(t)ide analogues has also been reported to cause serious side effects besides the increasing resistance by the virus. The need for new innovative solutions for treatment of HBV has been realized by global research institutes and pharmaceutical industry. Present review focuses in detail on the new ideas that are being transformed into therapeutic tools for use as future therapies in HBV infection. Modern drug designing and screening methods have made the drug discovery process shorter and more reliable. HBV therapeutics will take a new turn in coming years owing to these intelligent drug designing and screening methods. Future therapy of HBV is aiming to include the use of vaccines (both prophylactic and therapeutic), immunomodulators such as antibodies, non-nucleoside antivirals such as RNAi and inhibitors of viral life cycle.
authors.affiliation: Sobia Manzoor, Muhammad Saalim, Muhammad Imran, Saleha Resham, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Bio-Sciences, Department of Healthcare Biotechnology, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Sobia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Manzoor
authors.affiliation: Sobia Manzoor, Muhammad Saalim, Muhammad Imran, Saleha Resham, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Bio-Sciences, Department of Healthcare Biotechnology, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saalim
authors.affiliation: Sobia Manzoor, Muhammad Saalim, Muhammad Imran, Saleha Resham, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Bio-Sciences, Department of Healthcare Biotechnology, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Imran
authors.affiliation: Sobia Manzoor, Muhammad Saalim, Muhammad Imran, Saleha Resham, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Bio-Sciences, Department of Healthcare Biotechnology, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Saleha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Resham
authors.affiliation: Sobia Manzoor, Muhammad Saalim, Muhammad Imran, Saleha Resham, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Bio-Sciences, Department of Healthcare Biotechnology, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Javed
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ashraf
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D015195:Drug Design; D055808:Drug Discovery / Q000639:trends*; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy / Q000639:trends; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D017325:Hepatitis B Vaccines; D007155:Immunologic Factors
keywords: Hepatitis B virus treatment; Hepatitis B virus vaccines; Immunomodulators; Non-nucleoside antivirals; Nucleoside analogues