Pharmacotherapy of Hepatitis B – PST06106 Basic Pharmacotherapy
NTA Level 6 • Semester 1 • PST06106 Pharmacotherapy of Hepatitis B Basic Pharmacotherapy • Source Session/Topic 28 Full source-text version: all educational wording from the extracted learning source is retained; only presenter/tutor metadata and web-layout noise are removed, while formatting is improved for readability. PST 06106 Basic Pharmacotherapy Session 28: Pharmacotherapy of Hepatitis B Learning Objectives By the end of this session students are expected to be able to: Define hepatitis B Explain pathophysiology of hepatitis B Explain the clinical presentation of hepatitis B Outline diagnosis of hepatitis B Describe pharmacological treatment of hepatitis B Describe the monitoring of hepatitis b therapy Activity: Buzzing What is Hepatitis B ? Definition of Hepatitis B Hepatitis B is a potentially life-threatening liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). It can cause chronic infection and puts people at high risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer. HBV is transmitted sexually, parenterally, and perinataly . In areas of high HBV prevalence, perinatal transmission from mother to infant is most common, whereas in areas of intermediate prevalence, horizontal transmission from child to child is most common. Sexual contact, both homosexual and heterosexual, and injection drug use are the predominant forms of transmission in low-endemic countries Pathophysiology of Hepatitis B The life cycle of HBV is complex but, essentially, it acts as a stealth virus by evading the immune system. During the first stage of infection, the HBV virion (virus particle) attaches to a liver cell (hepatocyte) then penetrates the hepatocyte’s cytoplasm The HBV virion is uncoated, which means that nucleocapsids can move into the hepatocyte’s nucleus and convert the DNA to covalently closed circular DNA ( cccDNA ) – a double-stranded DNA structure The cccDNA is very stable and can stay in the host nucleus for many months in chronic disease Pathophysiology of Hepatitis B Cont… The virus makes copies of itself in a process that lacks “proof reading ability”, which allows the virus to mutate The newly formed HBV virions are released into the bloodstream, from where they invade other hepatocytes and repeat the replication process. It is thought that HBV causes inflammation and progressive fibrosis in the infected liver by triggering the immune system to attack the hepatocytes Clinical Presentation And Diagnosis Of Hepatitis B The majority of acute HBV infections are also asymptomatic but around 30% of adults will present with the following symptoms; Signs and symptoms Easy fatigability, anxiety, anorexia, and malaise Ascites, jaundice, variceal bleeding, and hepatic encephalopathy can manifest with liver decompensation(loss of brain function when a damaged liver doesn't remove toxins from blood ) Clinical Presentation And Diagnosis Of Hepatitis B Cont… Signs and symptoms…. Hepatic encephalopathy is associated with hyper excitability, impaired mentation, confusion, obtundation (loss of consciousness), and eventually coma(a period of prolonged unconsciousness) Vomiting and seizures Clinical Presentation And Diagnosis Of Hepatitis B Cont… Laboratory tests Presence of hepatitis B surface antigen >6 mo Intermittent elevations of hepatic transaminase (alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase) and hepatitis B virus DNA >20,000 IU/mL (105 copies/mL) Liver biopsies for pathologic classification as chronic persistent hepatitis, chronic active hepatitis, or cirrhosis Activity : Brainstorming What is the treatment of Hepatitis B infection?? Pharmacological Treatment Of Hepatitis B HBV infections are not curable; rather, the goals of therapy are to increase the chances for seroclearance , prevent disease progression to cirrhosis and HCC, and to minimize further injury in patients with ongoing liver damage . Pharmacological treatment includes ; Tenofovir (PO) 300mg once daily for life OR Entecavir (PO) 0.5mg–1mg once daily for life OR Lamuvidine (PO) 100mg once daily for life Pharmacological Treatment Of Hepatitis B Cont…. Prophylaxis against HBV can be achieved by vaccination or by passive immunity in postexposure cases with hepatitis B immunoglobulin. Vaccination is the most effective strategy to prevent infection Monitoring Of Hepatitis B Therapy Response to therapy is monitored by; Biochemical (normalization of ALT levels), Histologic examination of liver cells from biopsy (a minimum 2-point decrease in histology activity compared with baseline biopsy), and Virologic response (undetectable serum HBV DNA levels and loss of HBeAg in HBeAg-positive patients). Maintenance of viral suppression is defined as durability of response. In HBeAg-positive patients, successful therapy includes loss of HBeAg status and seroconversion to anti-HBeAg. Key Points Hepatitis B is a potentially life-threatening liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). It can cause chronic infection and puts people at high risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer HBV infections are not curable; rather, the goals of therapy are to increase the chances for seroclearance , prevent disease progression to cirrhosis and HCC, and to minimize further Evaluation What is Hepatitis B? What is the pathophysiology of Hepatitis B? What are the signs and symptoms of Hepatitis B? How is the treatment of Hepatitis B? References Wells BG, DiPiro J, Schwinghammer T (2013), Pharmacotherapy Handbook (6 th Ed). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. DiPiro JT, Talbert RL, Yee GC, Matzke GR, Wells BG, Posey ML, (2008): Pharmacotherapy: A Pathophysiologic Approach (7 th ed ): New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Katz M D., Matthias KR., Chisholm-Burns M A., Pharmacotherapy(2011) Principles & Practice Study Guide: A Case-Based Care Plan Approach : New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Schwinghammer TL, Koehler JM (2009) Pharmacotherapy Casebook: A Patient-Focused Approach (7 th ed ): New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. ← Previous TopicNext Topic →View all Basic Pharmacotherapy topicsOpen Complete Full Notes PDF / OFFLINE NOTES Unataka kutumiwa notes hizi kupitia WhatsApp?Kwa notes zilizopangiliwa vizuri kwa kusoma offline au PDF, bonyeza kitufe hapa chini. Ujumbe wenye Level, Semester, Module na Topic utaandaliwa moja kwa moja.TUMIWA NOTES WHATSAPP WhatsApp: 255620339260