Modern view on diagnostics and treatment of chronic hepatitis b virus infection

Abstract

The modern review about diagnostics and treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection (CHB) is presented in this article. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) was discovered in 1970 and it has the longest discovery history of all hepatotropic viruses. HBV is supposed the most variable of DNA viruses. Presence of reverse transcriptase in its structure and also other peculiarities of HBV let to mark it as «hidden retrovirus». That’s why there are many problems with treatment of CHB until today. According the WHO data there are 400 million people in the world suff er from CHB. The indications for treatment of CHB are serum HBV DNA levels, serum ALT levels and severity of liver disease. There are two different treatment strategies of CHB patients: treatment of finite duration with (PEG-)IFN or a NA and long-term treatment with NA(s). The main goal of antiviral therapy is sustain suppression of HBV replication. The investigations on the field of HBV treatment continue nowadays and new data appear every year.