Biomaterial Database

Drug therapy for hepatitis B. 2001

A Regev, and E R Schiff

Division of Hepatology, Center for Liver Diseases, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Fla., USA.

Until recently, IFN has been the only available therapy for chronic HBV infection; however, many new and exciting therapeutic strategies have emerged during the last decade. Recent advances in our understanding of the replicative mechanism of HBV and the development of potent nucleoside analogues have opened a new era in the treatment of HBV. Lamivudine has been introduced as an alternative to IFN, showing at least similar efficacy, but with a wider spectrum of indications and without the adverse effects. Therapeutic vaccination and molecular or gene therapy are being investigated as potential approaches, and aggressive combination therapy is emerging as a promising strategy. Based on the experience with HIV, the future of drug therapy against HBV likely includes combination therapy with 1 or more nucleoside/nucleotide analogues and an immune-modulating agent, such as IFN or a therapeutic vaccine. This combination may act synergistically against HBV and delay or prevent the development of drug-resistant mutants.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007372	Interferons	Proteins secreted by vertebrate cells in response to a wide variety of inducers. They confer resistance against many different viruses, inhibit proliferation of normal and malignant cells, impede multiplication of intracellular parasites, enhance macrophage and granulocyte phagocytosis, augment natural killer cell activity, and show several other immunomodulatory functions.	Interferon
D008297	Male		Males
D011379	Prognosis	A prediction of the probable outcome of a disease based on a individual's condition and the usual course of the disease as seen in similar situations.	Prognostic Factor,Prognostic Factors,Factor, Prognostic,Factors, Prognostic,Prognoses
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000225	Adenine	A purine base and a fundamental unit of ADENINE NUCLEOTIDES.	Vitamin B 4,4, Vitamin B,B 4, Vitamin
D000998	Antiviral Agents	Agents used in the prophylaxis or therapy of VIRUS DISEASES. Some of the ways they may act include preventing viral replication by inhibiting viral DNA polymerase; binding to specific cell-surface receptors and inhibiting viral penetration or uncoating; inhibiting viral protein synthesis; or blocking late stages of virus assembly.	Antiviral,Antiviral Agent,Antiviral Drug,Antivirals,Antiviral Drugs,Agent, Antiviral,Agents, Antiviral,Drug, Antiviral,Drugs, Antiviral
D016031	Liver Transplantation	The transference of a part of or an entire liver from one human or animal to another.	Grafting, Liver,Hepatic Transplantation,Liver Transplant,Transplantation, Hepatic,Transplantation, Liver,Hepatic Transplantations,Liver Grafting,Liver Transplantations,Liver Transplants,Transplant, Liver
D018450	Disease Progression	The worsening and general progression of a disease over time. This concept is most often used for chronic and incurable diseases where the stage of the disease is an important determinant of therapy and prognosis.	Clinical Course,Clinical Progression,Disease Exacerbation,Exacerbation, Disease,Progression, Clinical,Progression, Disease
D018894	Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors	Inhibitors of reverse transcriptase (RNA-DIRECTED DNA POLYMERASE), an enzyme that synthesizes DNA on an RNA template.	Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor,Inhibitors, Reverse Transcriptase,Inhibitor, Reverse Transcriptase,Transcriptase Inhibitor, Reverse