Key Milestones in HCV Discovery and Therapeutics

Carbohydrate-based drugs launched during 2000-2021

Carbohydrates are fundamental molecules involved in nearly all aspects of lives, such as being involved in formating the genetic and energy materials, supporting the structure of organisms, constituting invasion and host defense systems, and forming antibiotics secondary metabolites. The naturally occurring carbohydrates and their derivatives have been extensively studied as therapeutic agents for the treatment of various diseases. During 2000 to 2021, totally 54 carbohydrate-based drugs which contain carbohydrate moities as the major structural units have been approved as drugs or diagnostic agents. Here we provide a comprehensive review on the chemical structures, activities, and clinical trial results of these carbohydrate-based drugs, which are categorized by their indications into antiviral drugs, antibacterial/antiparasitic drugs, anticancer drugs, antidiabetics drugs, cardiovascular drugs, nervous system drugs, and other agents.

Correlation Between Serum Ferritin and Hepcidin Levels in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients

Background

In addition to the known role of serum ferritin as an inflammatory mediator, its role in the induction of serum hepcidin is yet to be elucidated. This study aimed to identify a correlation between serum ferritin and hepcidin levels in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients and healthy individuals.

Methodology

A total of 44 male subjects, selected by convenient sampling technique, were included in this study. The study population was divided into group I including 22 healthy males and group II including age-matched 22 CHC patients. Serum hepcidin and serum ferritin levels of study participants in both groups were assessed. Serum parameters were compared between two groups using the Mann-Whitney U test. Spearman correlation test was applied between serum ferritin and serum hepcidin in each group. P-values of ≤0.05 were considered significant.

Results

The median values of serum ferritin in group I and group II were in the normal range, though serum ferritin of CHC patients was significantly higher than the healthy population (p = 0.03). The median values of serum hepcidin in both groups were below the normal range. In CHC patients, a negative nonsignificant correlation (rho = -0.34, p = 0.13) was observed between serum ferritin and serum hepcidin. A positive nonsignificant correlation (rho = 0.19, p = 0.4) was observed between serum ferritin and serum hepcidin in the healthy population.

Conclusions

Our study could not bring forth any conclusive remarks in favor of serum ferritin as an inflammatory mediator raising serum hepcidin levels among CHC patients. A negative nonsignificant correlation between studied parameters in CHC patients may indicate the involvement of some other factor such as hepatitis C virus in the reduction of serum hepcidin levels.

Integrated MicroRNA Expression Profile Reveals Dysregulated miR-20a-5p and miR-200a-3p in Liver Fibrosis

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been demonstrated to involve in liver fibrogenesis. However, the miRNA-gene regulation in liver fibrosis is still unclear. Herein, the miRNA expression profile GSE40744 was obtained to analyze the dysregulated miRNAs between liver fibrosis and normal samples. Then, we predicted the target genes of screened miRNAs by miRTarBase, followed by gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis. Then, the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed to identify the functional miRNA-gene regulatory modules. Furthermore, we verified the hub gene expression using the gene expression profile GSE14323. Finally, 89 DEMs were identified in fibrotic liver samples compared to normal liver samples. The top 3 upregulated DEMs (miR-200b-3p, miR-200a-3p, and miR-182-5p) and downregulated DEMs (miR-20a-5p, miR-194-3p, and miR-148a-3p) were further studied. 516 and 1416 target genes were predicted, respectively. KEGG analysis demonstrated that the predicted genes were enriched in the p53 signaling pathway and hepatitis B, etc. Through constructing a PPI network, the genes with the highest connectivity were identified as hub genes. Of note, most of the hub genes were potentially targeted by miR-20a-5p and miR-200a-3p. Based on the data from GSE14323, the expression of EGFR, STAT3, CTNNB1, and TP53 targeted by miR-200a-3p was significantly downregulated in fibrotic liver samples. Oppositely, the expression of PTEN, MYC, MAPK1, UBC, and CCND1 potentially targeted by miR-20a-5p was significantly upregulated. In conclusion, it is demonstrated that miR-20a-5p and miR-200a-3p were identified as the novel liver fibrosis-associated miRNAs, which may play critical roles in liver fibrogenesis.