Molecular and clinical aspects of hepatitis D virus infections

• 作者: Elham Shirvani Dastgerdi Frank Tacke Ulf Herbers
• 来源期刊: 世界病毒学杂志
• 学科: 医学
• 关键词: HEPATITIS D VIRUS HEPATITIS B VIRUS Delta HEPATITIS Liver CIRRHOSIS HEPATOCELLULAR carcinoma HEPATITIS B VIRUS surface ANTIGEN
• 年，卷（期）: 2012,（3）
• 页码范围: 71-78
• 页数: 8页
• 分类号: R

摘要

Hepatitis D virus(HDV)is a defective virus with circular,single-stranded genomic RNA which needs hepatitis B virus(HBV)as a helper virus for virion assembly and infectivity.HDV virions are composed of a circular shape HDV RNA and two types of viral proteins,small and large HDAgs,surrounded by HBV surface antigen(HBsAg).The RNA polymeraseⅡfrom infected hepatocytes is responsible for synthesizing RNAs with positive and negative polarities for HDV,as the virus does not code any enzyme to replicate its genome.HDV occurs as co-infection or super-infection in up to 5%of HBsAg carriers.A recent multi-center study highlighted that pegylated interferonα-2a(PEG-IFN)is currently the only treatment option for delta hepatitis.Nucleotide/nucleoside analogues,which are effective against HBV,have no relevant effects on HDV.However,additional clinical trials combining PEG-IFN and tenofovir are currently ongoing.The molecular interactions between HDV and HBV are incompletely understood.Despite fluctuating patterns of HBV viral load in the presence of HDV in patients,several observations indicate that HDV has suppressive effects on HBV replication,and even in triple infections with HDV,HBV and HCV,replication of both concomitant viruses can be reduced.Additional molecular virology studies are warranted to clarify how HDV interacts with the helper virus and which key cellular pathways are used by both viruses.Further clinical trials are underway to optimize treatment strategies for delta hepatitis.