![]() In addition, there have been reports of Genotype G profiles in France, Germany, and the Americas however, Genotype H is mainly found in Mexico and Central America. On the other hand, Genotype F is limited to Central and South America. Genotype D is prevalent in Africa, Europe, the Mediterranean region, and India but Genotype E is only identified in West Africa. HBV can be classified into 10 Genotypes (A to J) depending on various geographical regions for example, Genotype A is highly endemic in areas like Africa, Europe, India, and America whereas Genotypes B and C are commonly found in the Asia-Pacific region ( 3). In fact, viral hepatitis was firmly responsible for 1.34 million deaths which was also the 6th leading cause of death worldwide overtaking the number of deaths caused by HIV and tuberculosis which was ranked at 7th and 12th, respectively ( 2). Based on the Global Hepatitis Report by WHO in 2015, it is estimated that 257 million people in the world are currently living with CHB ( 1). Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection remains a major health threat globally that contributes extensively to various types of liver diseases primarily due to development of acute hepatitis B which progresses into chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and subsequently causes liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Basically, this review covers some of the recent developments and key advantages of humanized mouse models over other conventional transgenic mice platforms. Therefore, the demand of utilizing humanized mice has increased over the last decade as a pre-clinical platform for investigating human-specific immune responses against HBV as well as identifying potential immunotherapeutic strategies in eradicating the virus. Indeed, in vitro/ex vivo cultures and various transgenic animal models have already provided us with a good understanding of HBV but they primarily lack human specificity or virus-host interactions in the presence of human immune surveillance. Although there is some success in using nucleoside analogs or polyclonal antibodies targeting HBV surface antigens (HBsAg) in patients with acute or chronic HBV + (CHB), majority of them would either respond only partially or succumb to the disease entirely unless they undergo liver transplants from a fully matched healthy donor and even so may not necessarily guarantee a 100% chance of survival. However, long term circulation of HBV in the peripheral blood may be detrimental to the human liver, specifically targeting human hepatocytes for cccDNA integration which inevitably supports HBV life cycle for the purpose of reinfection in healthy cells. In general, HBV can be cleared naturally by the human immune system if detected at low levels early. Despite the vast technological advancements in research and development, only HBV vaccines, typically given during early years, are currently available as a preventive measure against acquiring the disease from a secondary source. Viral hepatitis particularly Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) is still an ongoing health issue worldwide. 4Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.3Key Laboratory for Major Obstetric Diseases of Guangdong Province, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.2Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.1Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore.Fritz Lai 1,2 * Cherry Yong Yi Wee 1 Qingfeng Chen 1,3,4 * ![]()
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