viruses Review Review of Lambda Interferons in Hepatitis B Virus Infection: Outcomes and Therapeutic Strategies Laura A. Novotny 1 , John Grayson Evans 1, Lishan Su 2, Haitao Guo 3 and Eric G. Meissner 1,4,* 1 Division of Infectious Diseases, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29525, USA;
[email protected] (L.A.N.);
[email protected] (J.G.E.) 2 Division of Virology, Pathogenesis, and Cancer, Institute of Human Virology, Departments of Pharmacology, Microbiology, and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA;
[email protected] 3 Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Cancer Virology Program, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA;
[email protected] 4 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425, USA * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +1-843-792-4541 Abstract: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) chronically infects over 250 million people worldwide and causes nearly 1 million deaths per year due to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Approved treatments for chronic infection include injectable type-I interferons and nucleos(t)ide reverse transcriptase inhibitors. A small minority of patients achieve seroclearance after treatment with type-I interferons, defined as sustained absence of detectable HBV DNA and surface antigen (HBsAg) antigenemia. However, type-I interferons cause significant side effects, are costly, must be administered for months, and most patients have viral rebound or non-response. Nucleos(t)ide reverse transcriptase inhibitors reduce HBV viral load and improve liver-related outcomes, but do not lower HBsAg levels or impart Citation: Novotny, L.A.; Evans, J.G.; seroclearance.