If you work on the front lines of medical care treating patients with hepatitis, you may not have time to review all the hepatitis research that enters the medical literature every month. Here’s a quick look at some notable news items and journal articles published over the past month, covering a variety of the major hepatitis viruses.
A Brazilian study found that HCV/HTLV-1 coinfection does not alter the outcome of neurologic manifestations, although changes in the immunologic environment induced by HTLV-1 infection could lead to a reduction in hepatic damage, even without significant HCV clearance.
Hepatitis C–infected patients with decompensated cirrhosis receiving direct-acting antivirals present lower response rates and experience more serious adverse events, according to a study in Hepatology.
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A pilot study of treatment for early genotype 1 HCV infection in HIV-infected men found that a combination of sofosbuvir + ribavirin led 92% of men to achieve sustained viral response at 12 weeks.
A recent study identified the gene RIG-I as an important anti-hepatitis E virus interferon-stimulated gene that can be pharmacologically activated.
Hepatitis B virus reactivation occurs earlier and is clinically more significant in those chronic hepatitis C patients coinfected with overt and occult HBV, treated with pan-oral direct-acting antivirals compared to interferon-based therapy, according to a study in Hepatology.
A study found that the combination of glecaprevir and pibrentasvir was highly efficacious and well-tolerated in patients with hepatitis C virus GT1 infection and prior failure to direct-acting antiviral-containing therapy; although ribavirin coadministration did not improve efficacy.
Hepatitis B e antigen–negative patients with cirrhosis who discontinue nucleoside analog treatment might have a higher rate of hepatitis B surface antigen loss, according to a study in the Journal of Viral Hepatitis.
Researchers found that, in patients with resolved hepatitis B virus receiving chemotherapy for hematologic malignancies without antiviral prophylaxis, anti-hepatitis B surface antigen-positivity is associated with a decreased risk of reactivation.
A European study found that, although the lymphotoxin pathway is activated in the chronically hepatitis B virus infected liver, it has no major impact on HBV covalently closed circular DNA metabolism in chronic HBV infection.
CDC investigators said that for prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma, liver-related death, and end-stage liver disease in the short-term, hepatitis C virus therapy should target those with more than mild fibrosis.
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