ReviewInfectious diseases & immunity2026
Functional cure for chronic hepatitis B: A state of immune control over cccDNA persistence.
Review in Infectious diseases & immunity, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Hepatocyte-Targeted Drug Delivery Strategies for Chronic Hepatitis B: Overcoming Delivery Barriers Toward Functional Cure.Pharmaceutics · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Functional (clinical) cure is considered a desirable therapeutic endpoint of antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Recent studies have detected transcriptionally active covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) and integrated hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA (iDNA) in the liver tissue of patients who achieved functional cure. More than that, a small subset of these patients even showed positive staining for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in hepatocytes. Notably, compared to uncured patients, functionally cured patients demonstrate significantly restored HBV-specific immune responses. Based on these findings, it is clear that although cccDNA or iDNA are not completely cleared in certain functionally cured patients, the circulating viral markers are largely undetectable, even with the sensitive measuring methods that are routinely used. This is because, virologically, the residual viral genomic DNA in functionally cured patients is often genetically or epigenetically modified or undergoes post-transcriptional splicing and editing that prevents viral protein expression and productive replication. More importantly, the restored host immune responses further suppress viral protein production and HBV DNA replication to undetectable levels in peripheral blood. Thus, this form of functional cure for CHB might be described more accurately as an "undetectable" state of circulating virologic markers under the control of a restored host immune response against HBV infection. This resembles occult HBV infection to some extent, as replicative forms of HBV DNA-such as relaxed circular DNA and/or cccDNA-persist in the liver, accompanied by a risk of reactivation. As a result, consolidation therapy following serum HBsAg loss and continued follow-up monitoring after discontinuation of treatment become crucial. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the status of CHB patients who achieved functional cure, explains its underlying reasons, and assesses its relevance to clinical treatment and practice.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.