Recent Advances in Understanding, Diagnosing, and Treating Hepatitis B Virus Infection
by Magda Rybicka * [OrcID] and Krzysztof Piotr Bielawski
Department of Molecular Diagnostics, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Gdansk and Medical University of Gdansk, Abrahama 58, 80-307 Gdansk, Poland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Microorganisms 2020, 8(9), 1416; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8091416
Received: 10 August 2020 / Revised: 8 September 2020 / Accepted: 11 September 2020 / Published: 15 September 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Updates on HBV Infection)
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Abstract
Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection affects 292 million people worldwide and is associated with a broad range of clinical manifestations including cirrhosis, liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Despite the availability of an effective vaccine HBV still causes nearly 900,000 deaths every year. Current treatment options keep HBV under control, but they do not offer a cure as they cannot completely clear HBV from infected hepatocytes. The recent development of reliable cell culture systems allowed for a better understanding of the host and viral mechanisms affecting HBV replication and persistence. Recent advances into the understanding of HBV biology, new potential diagnostic markers of hepatitis B infection, as well as novel antivirals targeting different steps in the HBV replication cycle are summarized in this review article.
Keywords: HBV; HBV RNA; HBcrAg; novel viral markers; direct-acting antivirals 作者: StephenW 时间: 2020-9-22 12:06