Publicaciones de TherVacB

3 May 2022 | The Journal of Medical Internet Research
Bettina M Zimmermann, Theresa Willem, Carl Justus Bredthauer, Alena Buyx
Social media recruitment for clinical studies holds the promise of being a cost-effective way of attracting traditionally marginalized populations and promoting patient engagement with researchers and a particular study. However, using social media for recruiting clinical study participants also poses a range of ethical issues. The study summarized in this paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the ethical benefits and risks to be considered for social media recruitment in clinical studies and develop practical recommendations on how to implement these considerations.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9115665/

30 March 2022 | Nature
Elie Dolgin
Unos cursos de tratamiento finitos podrían conseguir controlar el virus, con la combinación adecuada de fármacos.
Siga leyendo para saber cómo Ulrike Protzer y Mala Maini, de TherVacB, junto con otros destacados científicos especializados en el VHB, virólogos, inmunólogos virales y hepatólogos de todo el mundo, han impulsado el desarrollo de un plan de acción centrado en la cura del VHB que incluye las perspectivas de los pacientes.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00812-1

31 July 2021 | Vaccines
Anna D Kosinska, Julia Festag, Martin Mück-Häusl, Marvin M Festag, Theresa Asen, Ulrike Protzer
During the natural course of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, the hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) is typically lost, while the direct transmission of HBeAg-negative HBV may result in fulminant hepatitis B. While the induction of HBV-specific immune responses by therapeutic vaccination is a promising, novel treatment option for chronic hepatitis B, it remains unclear whether a loss of HBeAg may influence its efficacy or tolerability. We therefore generated an adeno-associated virus (AAV)-vector that carries a 1.3-fold overlength HBV genome with a typical stop-codon mutation in the pre-core region and initiates the replication of HBeAg(-) HBV in mouse livers. Infection of C57BL/6 mice established persistent HBeAg(-) HBV-replication without any detectable anti-HBV immunity or liver damage. HBV-carrier mice were immunized with TherVacB, a therapeutic hepatitis B vaccine that uses a particulate HBV S and a core protein for prime vaccination, and a modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) for boost vaccination. The TherVacB immunization of HBeAg(+) and HBeAg(-) HBV carrier mice resulted in the effective induction of HBV-specific antibodies and the loss of HBsAg but only mild liver damage. Intrahepatic, HBV-specific CD8 T cells induced in HBeAg(-) mice expressed more IFNγ but showed similar cytolytic activity. This indicates that the loss of HBeAg improves the performance of therapeutic vaccination by enhancing non-cytolytic effector functions.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34451966/

6 July 2021 | The Pan African Medical Journal
Guenter Froeschl, Michael Hoelscher, Lucas Henze Maganga, Inge Kroidl, Petra Clowes, Steffen Geis, Elmar Saathoff, Dieter Hoffmann, Ulrike Protzer, Arne Kroidl
Sub-Saharan Africa bears a high prevalence for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. This analysis aims at elucidating the exposure to HBV across different age groups in Mbeya Region in Tanzania and determines prevalence of hepatitis C (HCV) and hepatitis delta antigen (HDV) infections.
https://www.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/article/39/174/full/

17 June 2021 | Der Hausarzt.DIGITAL
Ulrike Protzer
Kürzlich wurden Tests auf Hepatitis B und C in die Gesundheitsvorsorge («Check-up») aufgenommen. Versicherte ab 35 Jahren können sich einmalig auf diese beiden Erkrankungen untersuchen lassen. Dr. med. Ulrich Scharmer sprach darüber mit der Virologin Prof. Dr. med. Ulrike Protzer, München.
https://www.hausarzt.digital/medizin/praevention/screening-auf-hepatitis-b-und-c-gehoert-jetzt-zur-gesundheitsvorsorge-95051.html

18 March 2021 | Biomolecules
Till Bunse, Anna D. Kosinska, Thomas Michler and Ulrike Protzer
In chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, virus-specific T cells are scarce and partially dysfunctional. Therapeutic vaccination is a promising strategy to induce and activate new virus-specific T cells. In long-term or high-level HBV carriers, however, therapeutic vaccination by itself may not suffice to cure HBV. One reason is the impairment of antiviral T cells by immune checkpoints. In this study, we used small-interfering RNA (siRNA) in combination with a heterologous prime-boost therapeutic vaccination scheme (TherVacB) to interfere with a major immune checkpoint, the interaction of programmed death protein-1 (PD-1) and its ligand (PDL-1). In mice persistently replicating HBV after infection with an adeno-associated virus harboring the HBV genome, siRNA targeting PD-L1 resulted in a higher functionality of HBV-specific CD8+ T cells after therapeutic vaccination, and allowed for a more sustained antiviral effect and control of HBV in peripheral blood and in the liver. The antiviral effect was more pronounced if PD-L1 was down-regulated during prime than during boost vaccination. Thus, targeting PD-L1 using siRNA is a promising approach to enhance the efficacy of therapeutic vaccination and finally cure HBV.
https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/12/3/470