Cure Research for Hepatitis C
Latest Treatments for Hepatitis C
Some of the more recent treatments for Hepatitis C include:
Medical Research Breakthroughs and Hepatitis C
Statins used in Hepatitis-C: The drug, Fluvastatin, has been approved since 1993 by the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of elevated cholesterol in
adults. Millions of patients have taken Fluvastatin for cholesterol without
difficulty. In a study of 31 veterans at the Veteran's Administration Medical
Center in Oklahoma City, researchers found that Fluvastatin significantly
lowered the viral load, or levels of hepatitis C virus, for up to six weeks
when used alone. Hepatitis C is the disease that claimed the life of Oklahoman
Mickey Mantle. Since Fluvastatin will not completely clear the hepatitis C
virus by itself, researchers have started a phase II randomized, controlled
trial that combines Fluvastatin with the standard treatment of peg-interferon
and ribavirin. They hope to use the combination of medicines to significantly
improve the cure rate for hepatitis C. After further required testing and
approval, the drug could be available as a new treatment for hepatitis C far
sooner than any other anti-hepatitis C drug currently under research and development.
When patients are cured, they feel dramatically better, their health care costs
plummet, their risk of liver cancer drops dramatically, and if they do not have
cirrhosis, they will not need a liver transplant. Moreover, they are no longer
infectious. In the study, Veterans with chronic HCV were given oral doses
of Fluvastatin daily for two to 12 weeks. Within a month, half of the patients
showed a reduction of the virus. One patient's viral load was about 50 times
lower than before taking Fluvastatin. Most people with hepatitis C contracted the disease through
blood transfusions before 1992 when a test was implemented to screen for the
disease. You also can get the virus by injecting drugs with contaminated
needles and, less commonly, from contaminated needles used in tattooing and
body piercing.
Cure Research discussion for Hepatitis C:
Basic Research
A major focus of hepatitis C research is developing a
tissue culture system that will enable researchers to study HCV outside the
human body. Animal models and molecular approaches to the study of HCV are also
important. Understanding how the virus replicates and how it injures cells would
be helpful in developing a means of controlling the virus and in screening for
new drugs that would block it.
Diagnostic Tests
More sensitive and less expensive assays for measuring
HCV RNA and antigens in the blood and liver are needed. Although current tests
for anti-HCV are quite sensitive, a small percentage of patients with hepatitis
C test negative for anti-HCV (false-negative reaction), and a percentage of
patients who test positive are not infected (false-positive reaction). Also,
there are patients who have resolved the infection but still test positive for
anti-HCV. Convenient tests to measure HCV in serum and to detect HCV antigens in
liver tissue would be helpful.
New Treatments
Most critical for the future is the development of new
antiviral agents for hepatitis C. Most interesting will be specific inhibitors
of HCV-derived enzymes such as protease, helicase, and polymerase inhibitors.
Drugs that inhibit other steps in HCV replication may also be helpful in
treating this disease, by blocking production of HCV antigens from the RNA (IRES
inhibitors), preventing the normal processing of HCV proteins (inhibitors of
glycosylation), or blocking entry of HCV into cells (by blocking its receptor).
Nonspecific cytoprotective agents might also be helpful for hepatitis C by
blocking the cell injury caused by the virus infection. Further, molecular
approaches to treating hepatitis C are worthy of investigation; these consist of
using ribozymes, which are enzymes that break down specific viral RNA molecules,
and antisense oligonucleotides, which are small complementary segments of DNA
that bind to viral RNA and inhibit viral replication. All of these approaches
remain experimental and have not been applied to humans. The serious nature and
the frequency of hepatitis C in the population make the search for new therapies
of prime importance.
Prevention
At present, the only means of preventing new cases of
hepatitis C are to screen the blood supply, encourage health professionals to
take precautions when handling blood and body fluids, and inform people about
high-risk behaviors. Programs to promote needle exchange offer some hope of
decreasing the spread of hepatitis C among injection drug users. Vaccines and
immunoglobulin products do not exist for hepatitis C, and development seems
unlikely in the near future because these products would require antibodies to
all the genotypes and variants of hepatitis C. Nevertheless, advances in
immunology and innovative approaches to immunization make it likely that some
form of vaccine for hepatitis C will eventually be developed.
(Source: excerpt from
Chronic Hepatitis C Current Disease Management: NIDDK)
Medical research for Hepatitis C: medical news summaries:
The following medical news items
are relevant to medical research for Hepatitis C:
Hepatitis C Treatment: Book Excerpts
Clinical Trials for Hepatitis C
Some of the clinical trials for Hepatitis C include:
Evidence Based Medicine Research for Hepatitis C
Medical research papers related to Hepatitis C include:
Click here to find more evidence-based articles on the TRIP Database
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