Overview of hepatitis C infection, molecular biology, and new treatment.
J Infect Public Health
; 13(5): 773-783, 2020 May.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-31870632
ABSTRACT
The World Health Organization estimates that 71 million people worldwide have chronic hepatitis C viral infection. A major challenge is overall lack of public awareness of hepatitis C, particularly among infected people of their infection status. Chronic hepatitis C infection is associated with advanced liver disease, is the main cause of hepatocellular carcinoma and causes many extra-hepatic manifestations. The existence of seven viral genotypes complicates targeting of treatment. Recent years have seen the approval of many direct acting antivirals targeted at hepatitis C virus non-structural proteins. These have revolutionized therapy as they allow achievement of extremely high sustained virologic responses. Of great significance is the development of pan-genotypic drug combinations, including the NS3/4A-NS5A inhibitor combinations sofosbuvir-velpatasvir and glecaprevir-pibrentasvir. However, resistance-associated mutations can result in failure of these treatments in a small number of patients. This, combined with the high costs of treatment, highlights the importance of continued research into effective anti-hepatitis C therapies, for example aimed at viral entry. Recent developments include identification of the potential of low-cost anti-histamines for repurposing as inhibitors of hepatitis C viral entry. In this review we focus on molecular biology of hepatitis C virus, and the new developments in hepatitis C treatment.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Antivirais
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Hepatite C
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Hepacivirus
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Infect Public Health
Assunto da revista:
DOENCAS TRANSMISSIVEIS
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SAUDE PUBLICA
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article