Tencate Veronica, Sainz Bruno, Cotler Scott J, Uprichard Susan L
Department of Medicine, Section of Hepatology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Hepat Med. 2010 Oct;2010(2):125-145. doi: 10.2147/HMER.S7193.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a liver-tropic blood-borne pathogen that affects more than 170 million people worldwide. Although acute infections are usually asymptomatic, up to 90% of HCV infections persist with the possibility of long-term consequences such as liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, steatosis, insulin resistance, or hepatocellular carcinoma. As such, HCV-associated liver disease is a major public health concern. Although the currently available standard of care therapy of pegylated interferon α plus ribavirin successfully treats infection in a subset of patients, the development of more effective, less toxic HCV antivirals is a health care imperative. This review not only discusses the limitations of the current HCV standard of care but also evaluates upcoming HCV treatment options and how current research elucidating the viral life cycle is facilitating the development of HCV-specific therapeutics that promise to greatly improve treatment response rates both before and after liver transplantation.
丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）是一种嗜肝血源性病原体，全球感染人数超过1.7亿。虽然急性感染通常无症状，但高达90%的HCV感染会持续存在，并有可能导致肝纤维化、肝硬化、脂肪变性、胰岛素抵抗或肝细胞癌等长期后果。因此，HCV相关肝病是一个重大的公共卫生问题。虽然目前可用的聚乙二醇化干扰素α加利巴韦林标准护理疗法能成功治疗一部分患者的感染，但开发更有效、毒性更小的HCV抗病毒药物是医疗保健的当务之急。本综述不仅讨论了当前HCV标准护理的局限性，还评估了即将出现的HCV治疗选择，以及当前阐明病毒生命周期的研究如何促进HCV特异性疗法的开发，这些疗法有望大大提高肝移植前后的治疗反应率。
