Drug Discovery Opinion

Some 200 million people worldwide are estimated to be infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) which can eventually lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer, and in some cases, death. The current standard-of-care treatment for persistent infection – a combination of pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin – is able to clear the infection in around 50% of patients. In some patients, however, treatment is associated with haemolytic anaemia which may be severe enough to need dosage reduction or even discontinuation of treatment.

A team led by scientists at Duke University’s Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP) have now discovered that loss of function mutations in the gene ITPA, which encodes the enzyme inosine triphosphatase, protect against the development of anaemia. Previous studies had identified the genetic variants with enzyme deficiency and, through a genome-wide association study, the Duke team were able to show that they were also protective against anaemia caused by ribavirin. The finding may offer new treatment opportunities for HCV patients with coronary artery disease or kidney disease who are often not treated with ribavirin because of fears that anaemia could exacerbate their condition.

Inosine triphosphatase deficiency was first recognised over 30 years ago and is not thought to be clinically important. A diagnostic test that could predict deficiency, and hence reduced susceptibility to ribavirin-associated anaemia, would allow broader treatment options for HCV patients.

The study is published in the journal Nature.

Related posts:

1. First Interferon-free Oral Combination Study for HCV In total, around 200million people are thought to be infected hepatitis C virus (HCV). The current standard of care treatment...
2. HCV NS5A Inhibitor Shows Early Promise in Clinic Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a leading cause of liver disease and the current ‘standard of care’ treatment, a combination...
3. Host Kinases Linked to HCV Infection Globally, around 200 million people are infected with Hepatitis C virus (HCV). Infection generally leads to chronic liver disease, albeit...
4. Mouse Model of Liver Disease Although very different at a molecular level, hepatitis viruses B and C (HBV and HCV) both infect only humans and...
5. Renin Links CMV Infection to High Blood Pressure Human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) is a widespread member of the herpes family of viruses, with well over half of the world’s...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

 Email This Post

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 8:32 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.