Degasperi Elisabetta, Anolli Maria P, Lampertico Pietro
Foundation IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Milan, Italy.
CRC "A. M. and A. Migliavacca" Center for Liver Disease, Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
Liver Int. 2023 Aug;43 Suppl 1:80-86. doi: 10.1111/liv.15389. Epub 2022 Aug 23.
Chronic hepatitis delta (CHD) affects approximately 10-20 million people worldwide and represents the most severe form of chronic viral hepatitis, as it is characterized by high rates of progression to cirrhosis and its complications (end-stage liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma). In the last 30 years, the only treatment option for CHD has been represented by the off-label administration of Interferon (or Pegylated Interferon)-alpha: antiviral treatment, however, resulted in suboptimal (20-30%) virological response and was burdened by several side effects, de facto contraindicating Interferon (IFN) administration in patients with more advanced liver disease. Recently, Bulevirtide (BLV), a first-in-class HBV-HDV entry inhibitor blocking Na -taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide (NTCP), has provided very promising efficacy data in Phase II and Phase III (interim analysis) trials as well as in preliminary real-life reports. In July 2020, BLV has granted conditional approval by EMA for treatment of compensated CHD, at the dose of 2 mg/day by self-administered subcutaneous injections. In Phase II and Phase III trials, BLV was evaluated at different doses (2 vs. 10 mg/day) for 24 or 48 weeks, either in monotherapy or in combination with PegIFN. Administration of BLV monotherapy for 24 or 48 weeks resulted in 50%-83% virological response (HDV RNA ≥ 2 Log decline) rates and 45%-78% ALT normalization. Combination therapy with PegIFN provided synergistic effects. These results were replicated in real-life studies and confirmed also in patients with advanced cirrhosis and clinically significant portal hypertension. BLV treatment was optimally tolerated, resulting only in an asymptomatic increase of bile acids.
慢性丁型肝炎(CHD)在全球约影响1000万至2000万人,是最严重的慢性病毒性肝炎形式,其特征是进展为肝硬化及其并发症(终末期肝病、肝细胞癌)的发生率很高。在过去30年中,CHD的唯一治疗选择一直是干扰素(或聚乙二醇化干扰素)-α的超说明书给药:然而,抗病毒治疗导致病毒学应答不理想(20%-30%),且伴有多种副作用,实际上对肝病较严重的患者禁用干扰素(IFN)。最近,一流的乙肝-丁肝病毒进入抑制剂布列韦替(BLV),可阻断牛磺胆酸钠共转运多肽(NTCP),在II期和III期(中期分析)试验以及初步的真实世界报告中提供了非常有前景的疗效数据。2020年7月,BLV已获得欧洲药品管理局(EMA)有条件批准,用于治疗代偿性CHD,剂量为每日2毫克,通过自我皮下注射给药。在II期和III期试验中,对BLV进行了不同剂量(2毫克/天与10毫克/天)、为期24周或48周的评估,采用单药治疗或与聚乙二醇化干扰素联合使用。BLV单药治疗24周或48周导致病毒学应答率(丁肝病毒RNA≥下降2个对数)为50%-83%,谷丙转氨酶(ALT)正常化率为45%-78%。与聚乙二醇化干扰素联合治疗具有协同效应。这些结果在真实世界研究中得到重复,在晚期肝硬化和具有临床意义的门静脉高压患者中也得到证实。BLV治疗耐受性良好,仅导致胆汁酸无症状增加。