Advances and challenges in immune control and functional cure of chronic hepatitis B / 临床肝胆病杂志

ABSTRACT

The clinical outcome of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection mostly depends on the interaction between HBV and host immune system. Although there are still no drugs for the radical treatment of hepatitis B at present, more and more studies have found that functional cure, characterized by persistent negative conversion of HBsAg and HBV DNA in serum, has become an achievable goal for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. Meanwhile, immunoregulatory therapy based on a new understanding of the mechanism of immune control of HBV infection has been used as one of the important strategies for functional cure of chronic hepatitis B. This article elaborates on the immune control of HBV infection and the advances and challenges of its application in the research on the strategies for functional cure.