Translational Gastroenterology Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.
Expert Rev Vaccines. 2011 May;10(5):659-72. doi: 10.1586/erv.11.55.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects more than 170 million people globally and is a leading cause of liver cirrhosis, transplantation and hepatocellular carcinoma. Current gold-standard therapy often fails, has significant side effects in many cases and is expensive. No vaccine is currently available. The fact that a significant proportion of infected people spontaneously control HCV infection in the setting of an appropriate immune response suggests that a vaccine for HCV is a realistic goal. A comparative analysis of infected people with distinct clinical outcomes has enabled the characterization of many important innate and adaptive immune processes associated with viral control. It is clear that a successful HCV vaccine will need to exploit and enhance these natural immune defense mechanisms. New HCV vaccine approaches, including peptide, recombinant protein, DNA and vector-based vaccines, have recently reached Phase I/II human clinical trials. Some of these technologies have generated robust antiviral immunity in healthy volunteers and infected patients. The challenge now is to move forward into larger at-risk or infected populations to truly test efficacy.
丙型肝炎病毒 (HCV) 感染全球超过 1.7 亿人，是导致肝硬化、移植和肝细胞癌的主要原因。目前的黄金标准疗法往往失败，在许多情况下有显著的副作用，且昂贵。目前尚无疫苗可用。事实上，在适当的免疫反应下，相当一部分感染者会自发控制 HCV 感染，这表明 HCV 疫苗是一个切实可行的目标。对具有不同临床结局的感染者进行比较分析，使人们能够描述许多与病毒控制相关的重要先天和适应性免疫过程。显然，一种成功的 HCV 疫苗将需要利用和增强这些天然免疫防御机制。最近，新的 HCV 疫苗方法，包括肽、重组蛋白、DNA 和基于载体的疫苗，已进入 I/II 期人体临床试验。其中一些技术在健康志愿者和感染者中产生了强大的抗病毒免疫。现在的挑战是将这些技术推进到更大的高危或感染人群中，以真正检验其疗效。
