New therapeutic options for persistent low-level viremia in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection: Increase of entecavir dosage

Small Molecule Drugs Targeting Viral Polymerases

Small molecules that specifically target viral polymerases-crucial enzymes governing viral genome transcription and replication-play a pivotal role in combating viral infections. Presently, approved polymerase inhibitors cover nine human viruses, spanning both DNA and RNA viruses. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of these licensed drugs, encompassing nucleoside/nucleotide inhibitors (NIs), non-nucleoside inhibitors (NNIs), and mutagenic agents. For each compound, we describe the specific targeted virus and related polymerase enzyme, the mechanism of action, and the relevant bioactivity data. This wealth of information serves as a valuable resource for researchers actively engaged in antiviral drug discovery efforts, offering a complete overview of established strategies as well as insights for shaping the development of next-generation antiviral therapeutics.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Low-Level Viremia in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients After Long-Term Therapy with Nucleos(t)ide Analogs

BACKGROUND

Low-level viremia is usually defined as a detectable but lower than 2000 IU/mL hepatitis B virus DNA level after 12 months or longer duration of antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis B patients. In this study, we aimed to clarify the factors associated with lowlevel viremia in patients during long-term monotherapy with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate or entecavir.

METHODS

Chronic hepatitis B patients having received entecavir or tenofovir disoproxil fumarate treatment for 12 months or more were enrolled from October 2019 to October 2021 at a tertiary hospital in Shanghai, China. In accordance with their hepatitis B virus DNA levels, chronic hepatitis B patients were grouped into 3 categories, hepatitis B virus DNA > 2000 IU/mL, low-level viremia, and complete virological response (hepatitis B virus DNA < 10 IU/mL). Compared with complete virological response patients, factors related to lowlevel viremia were evaluated.

RESULTS

This study enrolled a total of 160 chronic hepatitis B patients, whose duration of treatment ranged from 12 to 144 months. In total, 107 patients achieved complete virological response, 51 showed low-level viremia, and 2 showed hepatitis B virus DNA > 2000 IU/mL. After multivariate logistic regression analysis, hepatitis e antigen-positivity (odds ratio = 6.479, 95% CI: 2.480-16.922, P = .000), entecavir treatment (odds ratio = 4.742, 95% CI: 1.855-12.118, P = .001), and duration of therapy (odds ratio = 0.168, 95% CI: 0.072-0.388, P = .000) were independently associated with low-level viremia.

CONCLUSION

Having received long-term antiviral treatment, low-level viremia still occurred in 31.9% of patients. Longer duration of therapy was a protective factor, and HBeAg-positivity and entecavir treatment were risk factors for low-level viremia.

Heterogeneity of immune control in chronic hepatitis B virus infection: Clinical implications on immunity with interferon-α treatment and retreatment

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a global public health issue. Interferon-α (IFN-α) treatment has been used to treat hepatitis B for over 20 years, but fewer than 5% of Asians receiving IFN-α treatment achieve functional cure. Thus, IFN-α retreatment has been introduced to enhance antiviral function. In recent years, immune-related studies have found that the complex interactions between immune cells and cytokines could modulate immune response networks, in-cluding both innate and adaptive immunity, triggering immune responses that control HBV replication. However, heterogeneity of the immune system to control HBV infection, particularly HBV-specific CD8⁺ T cell heterogeneity, has consequ-ential effects on T cell-based immunotherapy for treating HBV infection. Altogether, the host’s genetic variants, negative-feedback regulators and HBV components affecting the immune system's ability to control HBV. In this study, we reviewed the literature on potential immune mechanisms affecting the immune control of HBV and the clinical effects of IFN-α treatment and retreatment.

Network pharmacology and in vitro experiments-based strategy to investigate the mechanisms of KangXianYiAi formula for hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma

The Chinese traditional medicine KangXianYiAi formula (KXYA) is used to treat hepatic disease in the clinic. Here we aim to confirm the therapeutic effects and explore the pharmacological mechanisms of KXYA on hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We first collected and analyzed clinical data of 40 chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with precancerous liver lesions under KXYA treatment. Then, the cell viability, migration, cell cycle, and apoptosis of HepAD38 cells with KXYA treatment were examined. Next, we performed network pharmacological analysis based on database mining to obtain the key target pathways and genes of KXYA treatment on HBV-related HCC. We finally analyzed the expression of the key genes between normal and HBV-related HCC tissues in databases and measured the mRNA expression of the key genes in HepAD38 cells after KXYA treatment. The KXYA treatment could reduce the liver nodule size of CHB patients, suppress the proliferation and migration capabilities, and promote apoptosis of HepAD38 cells. The key pathways of KXYA on HBV-related HCC were Cancer, Hepatitis B, Viral carcinogenesis, Focal adhesion, and PI3K-Akt signaling, and KXYA treatment could regulate the expression of the key genes including HNF4A, MAPK8, NR3C1, PTEN, EGFR, and HDAC1. The KXYA exhibited a curative effect via inhibiting proliferation, migration, and promoting apoptosis of HBV-related HCC and the pharmacological mechanism was related to the regulation of the expression of HNF4A, MAPK8, NR3C1, PTEN, EGFR, and HDAC1.

Diammonium glycyrrhizinate preparation for liver function recovery in chronic hepatitis B in China: a meta-analysis with trial sequential analysis

Background:

The treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) comprises a global medical problem, and the first-line clinical drugs have obvious shortcomings. The use of the plant extract diammonium glycyrrhizinate (DG) in food and medicine has gradually widened because of its safety and effectiveness. In clinical practice, DG is mainly used for liver-disease treatment, but DG intervention for CHB lacks systematic-based evidence.

Method:

: The included randomized controlled trials were analyzed by comparator and control respectively for alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), and total bilirubin (TBIL) levels, hepatitis B virus DNA negative conversion ratio, and total effective rate, and subgroup analysis was conducted for intervention time, intervention dosage form, comparator drug, and combination drug, among others. Trial sequential analysis was used to verify the results.

Result:

DG could effectively reduce ALT, AST, TBIL, and other liver-function indexes and had a definite effect on liver-function recovery. From the beginning of intervention to 3 months, the effect was significantly better than that of conventional treatment. Compared with other drugs, different dosage forms had differences in efficacy, and DG enteric-coated capsules and injections were lower than compound glycyrrhizin and magnesium isoglycyrrhizin. Meanwhile DG capsules had no significant difference with them. Meanwhile, trial sequential analysis of the main results confirmed the reliability of the conclusion.

Conclusion:

To our knowledge, this was the first relatively complete meta-analysis and systematic evaluation of the efficacy of DG intervention for CHB; liver-function recovery was discussed in the context of traditional Chinese medicine thinking, and DG’s therapeutic effect in CHB was defined.

Antiviral Therapy Reduces Mortality in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients with Low-Level Hepatitis B Viremia

Background and Aims

Although antiviral treatment has been shown to reduce mortality in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with high HBV-DNA levels, it is still unclear whether it is useful in reducing mortality in patients with low HBV-DNA levels.

Methods

A retrospective analysis of 756 HBV-associated HCC patients at the Beijing Ditan Hospital with HBV-DNA levels < 500 IU/mL was conducted between January 2008 and June 2017. Patients were divided into antiviral and non-antiviral groups based on whether they received nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) treatment when they were diagnosed with HCC in our hospital for the first time. We used 1:4 frequency matching by age, gender, tumor size, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging, anti-tumor therapy, cirrhosis, diabetes, and hyperlipoidemia to compare the antiviral (n = 366) and non-antiviral (n = 100) groups. A Cox multivariate regression analysis was employed to evaluate the effects of NA therapy on the hazard ratio (HR), and the Kaplan–Meier survival curve was used to determine the mortality risk in patients with HCC. A Log rank test was performed to analyze the effects of NA therapy on the survival rate of patients with HCC.

Results

After propensity score matching, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates for the antiviral and non-antiviral groups were 82.5%, 68.6%, and 52.2%, and 61.0%, 51.0%, and 38.0%, respectively. The l-year progression-free survival (PFS) rates for the two groups were 68.0% and 47.0%, respectively. The OS of the antiviral group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P < 0.001, P = 0.001, and P = 0.013, respectively). The 1-year PFS for the antiviral group was also significantly better than that for the non-antiviral groups (P = 0.005). After adjusting for confounding prognostic factors in the Cox model, the HR of 5-year death after antiviral treatment was 0.721 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.530–0.980, P = 0.037). Antiviral therapy is an independent protective factor for 5-year mortality in patients with HCC and low-level viremia.

Conclusion

Antiviral therapy significantly reduced mortality in HCC patients with low HBV-DNA levels.