engleski

Novel delivery methods for treatment of viral hepatitis: an update

Viral hepatitis represents the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Currently approved therapies for chronic hepatitis B include IFN, an immune modulator, and nucleoside analogues lamivudine and adefovir. For chronic hepatitis C, a combination of pegylated IFN-alpha and ribavirin represents standard treatment. However, currently available treatments for both these viruses are effective in only in a limited number of patients, are costly, prolonged, associated with significant side affects, and require a substantial commitment from the patients and health care providers. A number of novel antiviral treatments, together with strategies to enhance response to current therapies, are being explored at present. For all new therapies, as well as for improving existing treatments, selective delivery of medications into liver cells would be desirable to enhance antiviral activity and avoid systemic side effects. New achievements in the field of drug and gene delivery against chronic hepatitis to the liver are reviewed here.

asialoglycoprotein receptors; chronic viral hepatitis; drug delivery; hydrodynamic method; liver; viral vectors

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