Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39940695›Full record

ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences2025

Evaluating the Efficacy of Repurposed Antiretrovirals in Hepatitis B Virus Treatment: A Narrative Review of the Pros and Cons.

Samuel Chima Ugbaja, Simon Achi Omerigwe, Saziso Malusi Zephirinus Ndlovu, Mlungisi Ngcobo, Nceba Gqaleni

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in International journal of molecular sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Samuel Chima UgbajaDiscipline of Traditional Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa.
Simon Achi OmerigweStrathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G4 0RE, UK.ORCID 0009-0000-6419-7672
Saziso Malusi Zephirinus NdlovuDiscipline of Traditional Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa.
Mlungisi NgcoboDiscipline of Traditional Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa.
Nceba GqaleniDiscipline of Traditional Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) continue to be global public health issues. Globally, about 39.9 million persons live with HIV in 2023, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 2024 Fact Sheet. Consequently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that about 1.5 million new cases of HBV occur, with approximately 820 thousand mortalities yearly. Conversely, the lower percentage of HBV (30%) cases that receive a diagnosis is a setback in achieving the WHO 2030 target for zero HBV globally. This has necessitated a public health concern to repurpose antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for the treatment of HBV diseases. This review provides an introductory background, including the pros and cons of repurposing antiretrovirals (ARVs) for HBV treatment. We examine the similarities in replication mechanisms between HIV and HBV. We further investigate some clinical studies and trials of co-infected and mono-infected patients with HIV-HBV. The topical keywords including repurposing ARV drugs, repurposing antiretroviral therapy, Hepatitis B drugs, HBV therapy, title, and abstracts are searched in PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The advanced search includes the search period 2014-2024, full text, clinical trials, randomized control trials, and review. The search results filtered from 361 to 51 relevant articles. The investigations revealed that HIV and HBV replicate via a common route known as 'reverse transcription'. Clinical trial results indicate that an early initiation of ARVs, particularly with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) as part of a regimen, significantly reduced the HBV viral load in co-infected patients. In mono-infected HBV, timely and correct precise medication is essential for HBV viral load reduction. Therefore, genetic profiling is pivotal for successful ARV drug repurposing in HBV treatment. Pharmacogenetics enables the prediction of the right dosages, specific individual responses, and reactions. This study uniquely explores the intersection of pharmacogenetics and drug repurposing for optimized HBV therapy. Additional in vivo, clinical trials, and in silico research are important for validation of the potency, optimum dosage, and safety of repurposed antiretrovirals in HBV therapy. Furthermore, a prioritization of research collaborations comprising of regulators and funders to foster clinically adopting and incorporating repurposed ARVs for HBV therapy is recommended.

Indexed as

Anti-Retroviral AgentsAntiviral AgentsDrug RepositioningHepatitis BHepatitis B virusCoinfectionHIV InfectionsHumansAnti-Retroviral AgentsAntiviral Agentsantiretrovirals (ARVs)antiretroviral therapy (ART)drug repurposingHBVHIV

Identifiers

PMID39940695
PMCPMC11817041

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.