Sofosbuvir for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection

Sofosbuvir is a nucleotide analogue selective inhibitor of the RNA-directed RNA polymerase (NS5B) enzyme of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome. It has shown potent antiviral activity across all HCV genotypes and in a variety of patient populations, including treatment-naive patients; treatment-experienced patients who had failed previous standard therapy; patients with decompensated liver disease, including cirrhosis; and HIV co-infected patients. It is administered as a single, once-daily 400-mg tablet, has no food restrictions, has low potential for drug interactions, and requires no dose adjustment in mild to moderate kidney or liver impairment. When sofosbuvir is combined with pegylated interferon and/or ribavirin, its clinical and laboratory safety profile is similar to that which is expected from pegylated interferon or ribavirin alone. Rates of treatment discontinuation and dose reduction with sofosbuvir-containing regimens were lower than those commonly observed with pegylated interferon and ribavirin.

Medicinal plants against hepatitis C virus

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a global health concern which is responsible for most of the liver diseases. Currently, there is no vaccine available for prevention of HCV infection due to the high degree of strain variation. The current standard of care is a combination of pegylated interferon α with ribavirin and boceprevir/telaprevir. This treatment was partially effective and had significant side effects. Hence, there is a need to develop new antiviral agents that interfere with different stages of the HCV life cycle. Recent advances in the understanding of both the cellular and molecular mechanisms of HCV replication have provided the basis for novel therapeutic strategies. Several hundred plant species and their phyto-constituents have been isolated for screening against HCV, and some have been shown to have great medicinal value in preventing and/or ameliorating viral diseases in pre-clinical and clinical trials. This review summarizes medicinal plants and their phytochemicals which inhibit different stages of HCV life cycle and discuss their potential use in HCV therapy.