RESUMO
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a global public health issue and is a major cause of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Hepatitis D virus (HDV) requires the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) to replicate. The eradication of HBV, therefore, can also cure HDV. The current therapies for chronic hepatitis B and D are suboptimal and cannot definitely cure the viruses. In order to achieve functional or complete cure of these infections, novel therapeutic agents that target the various sites of the viral replicative cycle are necessary. Furthermore, novel immunomodulatory agents are also essential to achieve viral clearance. Many of these new promising compounds such as entry inhibitors, covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) inhibitors, small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), capsid assembly modulators and nucleic acid polymers are in various stages of clinical developments. In this review article, we provided a comprehensive overview of the structure and lifecycle of HBV, the limitations of the current therapies and a summary of the novel therapeutic agents for both HDV and HBV infection.
RESUMO
Speech intelligibility was measured in 31 children who used the 3M/House single-channel implant (n = 12), the Nucleus 22-Channel Cochlear Implant System (n = 15), or the Tactaid II + two-channel vibrotactile aid (n = 4). The subjects were divided into subgroups based on age at onset of deafness (early or late). The speech intelligibility of the experimental subjects was compared to that of children who were profoundly hearing impaired who used conventional hearing aids (n = 12) or no sensory aid (n = 2). The subjects with early onset of deafness who received their single- or multichannel cochlear implant before age 10 demonstrated the highest speech intelligibility, whereas subjects who did not receive their device until after age 10 had the poorest speech intelligibility. There was no obvious difference in the speech intelligibility scores of these subjects as a function of type of device (implant or tactile aid). On the average, the postimplant or tactile aid speech intelligibility of the subjects with early onset of deafness was similar to that of hearing aid users with hearing levels between 100 and 110 dB HL and limited hearing in the high frequencies. The speech intelligibility of subjects with late onset of deafness showed marked deterioration after the onset of deafness with relatively large improvements by most subjects after they received a single- or multichannel implant. The one subject with late onset of deafness who used a tactile aid showed no improvement in speech intelligibility.
