Interferon at the cellular, individual, and population level in hepatitis C virus infection: Its role in the interferon-free treatment era

Raja, Rubesh and Baral, Subhasish and Dixit, Narendra M (2018) Interferon at the cellular, individual, and population level in hepatitis C virus infection: Its role in the interferon-free treatment era. In: IMMUNOLOGICAL REVIEWS, 285 (1, SI). pp. 55-71.

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Abstract

The advent of powerful direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) has revolutionized the treatment of hepatitis C. DAAs cure nearly all patients with short duration, oral treatments. Significant efforts are now underway to optimize DAA-based treatments. We discuss the potential role of interferon in this optimization. Clinical studies present compelling evidence that DAAs perform better in treatment-naive individuals than in individuals who previously failed treatment with interferon, a surprising correlation because interferon and DAAs are thought to act independently. Recent mathematical models explore a mechanistic hypothesis underlying this correlation. The hypothesis invokes the action of interferon at the cellular, individual, and population levels. Strong interferon responses prevent the productive infection of cells, reduce viral replication, and impede the development of resistance to DAAs in infected individuals and improve cure rates elicited by DAAs in treated populations. The models develop descriptions of these processes, integrate them into a comprehensive framework, and capture clinical data quantitatively, providing a successful test of the hypothesis. Individuals with strong endogenous interferon responses thus present a promising subpopulation for reducing DAA treatment durations. This review discusses the conceptual advances made by the models, highlights the new insights they unravel, and examines their applicability to optimize DAA-based treatments.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	IMMUNOLOGICAL REVIEWS
Publisher:	WILEY, 111 RIVER ST, HOBOKEN 07030-5774, NJ USA
Additional Information:	Copy right for this article belong to WILEY, 111 RIVER ST, HOBOKEN 07030-5774, NJ USA
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Chemical Engineering
Date Deposited:	28 Aug 2018 15:19
Last Modified:	25 Oct 2018 07:30
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/60508

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