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Natural history of chronic hepatitis B virus infection

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Abstract

Hepatitis B virus infection represents a major global health problem. Currently, there are more than 240 million chronically infected people worldwide. The development of chronic hepatitis B virus-mediated liver disease may lead to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and eventually hepatocellular carcinoma. Recently, the discovery of the viral entry receptor sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide has facilitated new approaches for a better understanding of viral physiopathology. Hopefully, these novel insights may give rise to the development of more effective antiviral therapy concepts during the next years. In this review, we will discuss the natural history of hepatitis B virus infection including the viral biology, the clinical course of infection and the role of the immune response.

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  1. Department of Medicine II, University Hospital of Freiburg, 79106, Freiburg, Germany

    Katrin Busch & Robert Thimme

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  1. Katrin Busch
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Correspondence to Robert Thimme.

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This article is part of the Special Issue “Therapeutic Vaccination in Chronic Hepatitis B—approaches, problems and new perspectives”.

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Busch, K., Thimme, R. Natural history of chronic hepatitis B virus infection. Med Microbiol Immunol 204, 5–10 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00430-014-0369-7

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