Division of Molecular Medicine, National Centre of Excellence in Molecular Biology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
Virol J. 2011 Jun 6;8:276. doi: 10.1186/1743-422X-8-276.
Hepatitis C virus is a major cause of chronic liver diseases which can lead to permanent liver damage, hepatocellular carcinoma and death. The presently available treatment with interferon plus ribavirin, has limited benefits due to adverse side effects such as anemia, depression and "flu-like" symptoms. Needless to mention, the effectiveness of interferon therapy is predominantly, if not exclusively, limited to virus type 3a and 3b whereas in Europe and North America the majority of viral type is 1a and 2a. Due to the limited efficiency of current therapy, RNA interference (RNAi) a novel regulatory and powerful silencing approach for molecular therapeutics through a sequence-specific RNA degradation process represents an alternative option. Several reports have indicated the efficiency and specificity of synthetic and vector based siRNAs inhibiting HCV replication. In the present review, we focused that combination of siRNAs against virus and host genes will be a better option to treat HCV.
丙型肝炎病毒是慢性肝脏疾病的主要病因之一，可导致永久性肝损伤、肝细胞癌和死亡。目前使用干扰素联合利巴韦林治疗，由于贫血、抑郁和“流感样”症状等不良反应，疗效有限。不用说，干扰素治疗的有效性主要（如果不是完全的话）限于病毒 3a 和 3b 型，而在欧洲和北美，大多数病毒类型为 1a 和 2a 型。由于目前治疗方法的效率有限，RNA 干扰（RNAi）是一种通过序列特异性 RNA 降解过程进行分子治疗的新型调节和强大的沉默方法，是一种替代选择。有几项报告表明，合成和基于载体的 siRNA 抑制 HCV 复制的效率和特异性。在本综述中，我们重点讨论了针对病毒和宿主基因的 siRNA 联合使用将是治疗 HCV 的更好选择。
