Application of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats- associated protein 9 gene editing technology for treatment of HBV infection / 中华肝脏病杂志

A lack of effective drugs and technical means to eradicate hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a bottleneck that limits the ability to fully cure HBV infection. Recently, genome-editing technology based on clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats -associated protein 9 is an emerging technique for editing specific gene loci, which can specifically target HBV covalently closed circular DNA, effectively inhibits HBV DNA replication and regulates HBV functional protein expression, and is expected to become a powerful gene therapy tool for the complete eradication of HBV. Considering this, it has become the focus of attention for scholars at home and abroad that how to use clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats -associated protein 9 to accomplish modification of HBV genomes for complete eradication of HBV. This paper summarizes the latest progress based on the latest research results at home and abroad in the application of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats -associated protein 9 gene editing technology in anti-HBV infection treatment, and expounds its potential and challenges as a radical cure for HBV infection.

Relationship between serum hepatitis B virus covalently closed circle DNA and clinical stage as well as pathological grade of chronic hepatitis B in children / 中国小儿急救医学

Objective To study the relationship between serum hepatitis B virus covalently closed circle DNA (HBV cccDNA) as well as liver function and liver tissue pathological changes in children with chronic hepatitis B.Methods One hundred and twenty-four HBV-DNA positive children with hepatitis B were enrolled.Among 124 patients,65 cases were HBV carriers,59 cases were chronic hepatitis (mild in 31 cases,moderate in 18 cases and severe in 10 cases).HBV cccDNA in serum and liver function were detected,46 of which underwent liver biopsy and liver tissue inflammation and fibrosis grading classification was made.Results In moderate and severe cases,positive rates of serum HBV cccDNA (77.8％,100％) were higher than those of the HBV carriers and mild cases (32.3％,54.8％) (x2 =25.429,P ＜ 0.01),indicating more severe illness in children,detection rate of serum HBV cccDNA was higher.ALT,AST,and TBIL were higher in serum HBV cccDNA positive group than those of negative group[(95.6 ± 18.2) U/L vs (52.5 ± 17.7) U/L,(88.8 ±20.3) U/L vs (48.4 ±21.4) U/L,(68.4 ±24.6) μmol/L vs (28.3 ± 23.9) μmol/L](t =15.572,10.750,17.067,P ＜ 0.01).Serum HBV cccDNA and liver inflammatory activity and fibrosis showed no significant correlationship.Conclusion Serum HBV cccDNA is a sensitive indicator of viral replication,the more severe the disease situation,the peripheral HBV cccDNA detection rate is higher.But it is not entirely consistent with liver inflammation and fibrosis,so it can not completely reflect the degree of liver damage.