Immunity in Chronic Hepatitis B and innovative treatment development

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is not directly responsible for HBV-related pathologies, rather, a distorted host immunity following HBV infection is responsible for liver damage and complications. Thus, containment of HBV replications by antiviral drugs did not bring a satisfactory outcome. In this article, we have shown why commercially-available antiviral drugs are not effective in treating chronic hepatitis B. We have also provided a scientific basis, rationality, and an immune therapy design for treating these patients.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is global in nature and induces several incredible liver diseases, such as chronic hepatitis B (CHB), cirrhosis of the liver (LC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A total of 882,000 patients died of HBV-related liver diseases in 2019. This large number of deaths and HBV morbidity can be contained if patients with CHB are provided with proper management strategies. Currently, two varieties of antiviral drugs are approved for the treatment of CHB patients. However, the outcome of treatment with these antiviral drugs is neither rationally satisfactory nor patient-friendly. These drugs come with major limitations, such as cost, infinite usage, adverse effects, and low efficacy. On the basis of the retrieved information, it seems that immune therapy may be an alternate therapeutic approach for treating CHB patients. In this article, it is shown why antiviral drugs and innovative antiviral compounds have limited roles in the treatment of CHB patients. On the other hand, the scope of immune therapies has been rationalized by providing scientific evidence and analyzing the mechanism of action of CHB. Therefore, various immune therapy designs have been proposed for treating CHB patients.

Reference URL: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00535-022-01890-8.pdf

Bibliographic Information

Immune therapies against chronic hepatitis B. Sheikh Mohammad Fazle Akbar, Osamu Yoshida, Yoichi Hiasa, J Gastroenterol. 2022, 57, 517-528Jun 16. doi: 10.1007/s00535-022-01890-8, 2022 (June 16).

Media

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  Immune Therapies Against Chronic Hepatitis B

  Two main types of immune therapies have been employed to treat chronic hepatitis B during the last 4 decades. However, it seems that HBV-antigen-specific immune therapy may be safe and effective.

  credit : Ehime University
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