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JAC Advance Access originally published online on February 11, 2003
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Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (2003) 51, 481-485
© 2003 The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy

Leading Article

Current and future antiviral agents for chronic hepatitis B

Man-Fung Yuen and Ching-Lung Lai*

Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China

Keywords: antivirals, hepatitis, HBV

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Effective antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is important since ~400 million people are affected globally. Loss of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) with or without seroconversion to antibody against HBeAg (anti-HBe), normalization of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and improvement in liver histology are the usual short-term endpoints of therapy.1 To determine whether the ultimate treatment target, i.e. prevention of cirrhosis-related complications and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is achieved requires more long-term follow-up of treated patients.1

The two established agents for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B are interferon (IFN)-{alpha} and lamivudine. Adefovir dipivoxil has also been licensed recently in the USA and in Europe. Their main modes of action are immunomodulation and direct suppression of viral replication. IFN-{alpha} induces HBeAg seroconversion in ~20–30% of patients. The proportion achieving HBeAg seroconversion is lower in Asian patients, who mostly acquire the infection at birth or early in life and consequently . . . [Full Text of this Article]


   Lamivudine
 

   Adefovir dipivoxil
 

   Tenofovir
 

   Entecavir
 

   ß-L-2'-Deoxythymidine (telbivudine)
 

   Emtricitabine
 

   1-ß-2,6-Diaminopurine dioxalane (DAPD, amdoxovir)
 

   2'-Fluoro-5-methyl-ß-L-arabinofuranosyluridine (L-FMAU, clevudine)
 

   Famciclovir
 

   Combination therapy
 

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M.-F. Yuen, D. K.-H. Wong, H.-J. Yuan, S.-M. Sum, and C.-L. Lai
HBsAg Seroclearance in Chinese Patients Receiving Lamivudine Therapy for Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection
J. Clin. Microbiol., October 1, 2004; 42(10): 4882 - 4884.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]