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Hepatitis

Monitoring drug therapy for hepatitis B—a global challenge?

A new study has found undetectable serum levels of HBV DNA at week 24 of treatment to be the strongest predictor of optimal outcomes for patients with chronic HBV infection. Although this finding is not surprising, it has important implications for those patients on antiviral therapy who do not achieve a favorable response.

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Figure 1: The three main 'pathways' of HBV replication in HBeAg-positive patients: replication of HBV DNA, HBsAg production and HBeAg secretion.

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Nguyen, T., Locarnini, S. Monitoring drug therapy for hepatitis B—a global challenge?. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 6, 565–567 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2009.160

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