Advances with RNAi-Based Therapy for Hepatitis B Virus Infection.

ABSTRACT: Infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains a global health challenge. Approximately 292 million people worldwide are chronically infected with HBV and the annual mortality from the infection is approaching 900,000. Despite the availability of an effective prophylactic vaccine, millions of individuals are at risk of potentially fatal complicating cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Current drug treatments can suppress viral replication, slow the progression of liver fibrosis, and reduce infectivity, but can rarely clear the viral covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) that is responsible for HBV persistence. Alternative therapeutic strategies, including those based on viral gene silencing by harnessing the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway, effectively suppress HBV replication and th

SUBMITTER: van den Berg F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7472220 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature