Virological Treatment Monitoring for Chronic Hepatitis B
Elisabetta Loggi,
Stefano Gitto,
Filippo Gabrielli,
Elena Franchi,
Hajrie Seferi,
Carmela Cursaro,
Pietro Andreone
Affiliations
Elisabetta Loggi
Hepatology Unit, Department of Medical & Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Stefano Gitto
Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50134 Florence, Italy
Filippo Gabrielli
Postgraduate School of Internal Medicine, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41126 Modena, Italy
Elena Franchi
Postgraduate School of Internal Medicine, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41126 Modena, Italy
Hajrie Seferi
Postgraduate School of Internal Medicine, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41126 Modena, Italy
Carmela Cursaro
Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Maternal-Infantile and Adult, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41126 Modena, Italy
Pietro Andreone
Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Maternal-Infantile and Adult, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41126 Modena, Italy
More than 250 million people worldwide are currently infected with hepatitis B, despite the effectiveness of vaccination and other preventive measures. In terms of treatment, new therapeutic approaches are rapidly developing, promising to achieve the elimination of infected cells and the complete cure of infection. The on-treatment monitoring of these innovative antiviral treatments will require the implementation of new virological tools. Therefore, new biomarkers are being evaluated besides the traditional virological and serological assays in order to obtain information on different steps of the viral replication cycle and to monitor response to therapy more accurately. The purpose of this work is to describe both standard and innovative tools for chronic hepatitis B treatment monitoring, and to analyse their potential and feasibility.
