HBV News and Research

RSS

De novo designed SARS-CoV-2 nanoparticle vaccine

In light of the continuing threat to public health, social functioning, and economic activity posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists are working urgently to bring out a vaccine that is both safe and effective, and capable of mass production. A new paper published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in August 2020 shows that such a vaccine may be produced by using arrays of one severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) protein on a nanoparticle platform.

14 Aug 2020

Natural controllers shed light on immunity mechanisms against hepatitis B

Infections in humans caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) represent a major public health problem. Despite the availability of effective protective vaccines, more than 250 million individuals worldwide are chronically infected according to WHO estimates.

13 Aug 2020

European Commission approves first drug for hepatitis D

What started off as basic research 25 years ago has now lead to a successfully approved drug: The entry blocker bulevirtide (brand name Hepcludex, formerly known as Myrcludex B), jointly developed by researchers from Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) and the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg, the DZIF and other partners, has now been approved by the European Commission.

5 Aug 2020

ECDC and WHO collaborate to track the status of hepatitis infections across EU

Approximately four in five people living with hepatitis B and three out of four people with hepatitis C infection across the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) and the UK have not yet been diagnosed.

28 Jul 2020

Study estimates the past and present burden of viral hepatitis through blood transfusions

What is the incidence of viral hepatitis caused by blood transfusions before and after Sweden introduced screening of blood in the early 1990s? In an article published in Eurosurveillance ahead of World Hepatitis Day on 28 July, the authors also try to estimate how many people of those who were infected with hepatitis B and C through blood transfusion still live with undiagnosed hepatitis.

23 Jul 2020

Effect of human genes on severity and infectivity of SARS-CoV-2

Now, a new paper published on the preprint server medRxiv* reports the results of an analysis of the association between the genetic variants in the patients and the clinical progression of the disease. The study included 332 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in a single-center, with widely varying laboratory and clinical features. There were 25, 12, and 17 patients with asymptomatic, mild, and critical disease.

14 Jun 2020

Immune cell discovery could help develop new treatments for hepatitis B

For the first time, researchers at The Westmead Institute for Medical Research have identified and described a new and unique subset of human cells that are involved in the immune response against hepatitis B (HBV) infection. The discovery could help develop new treatments for HBV and inform future vaccine design.

9 Jun 2020

Using 'own' immune cells to fight infectious diseases including COVID-19

A provocative paper from Duke-NUS Medical School, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine in March 2020, discusses the possibilities of creating new receptors on a sick person's own immune cells as a means of controlling the infection. This therapy is already being used to treat certain cancers with marked success.

22 Apr 2020

Researchers are exploring potential therapy for controlling infectious diseases

The engineering of specific virus-targeting receptors onto a patient's own immune cells is now being explored by scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS), as a potential therapy for controlling infectious diseases, including the COVID-19-causing virus, SARS-CoV-2.

22 Apr 2020

First comprehensive survey of viruses found within different cancers

Researchers from the University of East Anglia have helped to carry out the first comprehensive survey of viruses found within different types of cancer.

5 Feb 2020

Researchers develop novel therapeutic approach to cure chronic hepatitis B

Researchers at Helmholtz Zentrum München, Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the German Center for Infection Research have developed a novel therapeutic approach to cure chronic hepatitis B.

3 Feb 2020

Research shows how the hepatitis D virus copies itself

A team of researchers has discovered how one crucial step occurs in the lifecycle of the hepatitis D virus (HDV), which causes the widespread and hard to treat liver inflammation called hepatitis D. The study, which was published recently in the Journal of Virology, could help develop antiviral therapy to control this disease.

22 Dec 2019

Researchers reveal the mystery in replication cycle of hepatitis D virus

A team led by Professor Patrick Labonté at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique in Montreal, Canada has identified the role of a key process in the replication cycle of the hepatitis D virus, an infection that is still very difficult to cure and affects 15 to 20 million people worldwide.

19 Dec 2019

Cancer Atlas: Progress in the fight against cancer is not only possible, but achievable

The Cancer Atlas, 3rd edition, a comprehensive global overview of cancer around the globe, concludes that progress in the fight against cancer is not only possible, but achievable.

16 Oct 2019

Needle stick injuries are common and can transmit many blood-borne pathogens

Needle stick injuries (NSIs) can transmit more than 20 blood-borne pathogens, including HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and, more rarely, malaria, human T cell leukemia virus and Ebola.

25 Aug 2019

Human apolipoprotein E promotes hepatitis B virus infection

Human apolipoprotein E (apoE) promotes hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and production, according to a study published DATE in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Luhua Qiao and Guangxiang (George) Luo of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine.

From PLOS ONE 13 Aug 2019

Discovery of unusual HBV in shrews offers new opportunity to better understand the disease

The discovery of an unusual hepatitis B virus from shrews offers new opportunities of better understanding the chronic progression of the disease. International research teams were able to demonstrate that an important protein which is essential for the development of a chronic course of infection is not present in this virus.

3 Aug 2019

Researchers succeed in conquering chronic infection with hepatitis B virus

Researchers at Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technical University of Munich, working in collaboration with researchers at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and the University Hospital Heidelberg, have for the first time succeeded in conquering a chronic infection with the hepatitis B virus in a mouse model.

11 Jun 2019

Plant-derived siRNAs could bring a 'green revolution' in RNAi tools and therapeutics

"Green revolution" in the early 1950s, the extensive cultivation of Dwarf Rice solves the food problem in developing countries. At present, chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been a major public health problem.

11 Jun 2019

Research sheds light on how hepatitis B virus establishes chronic infection

New research sheds light on how a hepatitis B viral protein stimulates the expansion of immune cells that impair antiviral responses, according to a study published April 18 in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens by Haitao Guo of the Indiana University School of Medicine, Bin Wang and Jiming Zhang of Fudan University, and colleagues.

19 Apr 2019