Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 14, 2022; 28(14): 1405-1429
Published online Apr 14, 2022. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i14.1405
Viral hepatitis: Past, present, and future
Matthew August Odenwald, Sonali Paul
Matthew August Odenwald, Sonali Paul, Department of Medicine, Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Center for Liver Diseases, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, United States
Author contributions: Odenwald MA and Paul S both contributed equally to this work. Both wrote and revised this review article, and both authors approve of the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Sonali Paul, MD, MS, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Center for Liver Diseases, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Ave. Rm J-517, MC7120, Chicago, IL 60637, United States. spaul@medicine.bsd.uchicago.edu
Received: June 27, 2021
Peer-review started: June 27, 2021
First decision: July 14, 2021
Revised: March 4, 2022
Article in press: March 4, 2022
Published online: April 14, 2022
Processing time: 282 Days and 18.4 Hours
Abstract

Each hepatitis virus—Hepatitis A, B, C, D, E, and G—poses a distinct scenario to the patient and clinician alike. Since the discovery of each virus, extensive knowledge regarding epidemiology, virologic properties, and the natural clinical and immunologic history of acute and chronic infections has been generated. Basic discoveries about host immunologic responses to acute and chronic viral infections, combined with virologic data, has led to vaccines to prevent Hepatitis A, B, and E and highly efficacious antivirals for Hepatitis B and C. These therapeutic breakthroughs are transforming the fields of hepatology, transplant medicine in general, and public and global health. Most notably, there is even an ambitious global effort to eliminate chronic viral hepatitis within the next decade. While attainable, there are many barriers to this goal that are being actively investigated in basic and clinical labs on the local, national, and international scales. Herein, we discuss pertinent clinical information and recent organizational guidelines for each of the individual hepatitis viruses while also synthesizing this information with the latest research to focus on exciting future directions for each virus.

Keywords: Viral Hepatitis; Hepatitis A; Hepatitis B; Hepatitis C; Hepatitis D; Hepatitis E; Hepatitis G

Core Tip: Viral hepatitis encompasses a wide array of clinical diseases—from asymptomatic and self-limited to chronic liver disease to acute liver failure. Extensive historical research has resulted in vaccines to prevent Hepatitis A, B, and E and highly efficacious antivirals for Hepatitis B and C, and these therapeutic breakthroughs are transforming the fields of hepatology, transplant medicine in general, and public and global health. While these breakthroughs are highly promising, there are many barriers to eventually elimination of chronic viral hepatitis. These barriers are being actively investigated, and we discuss ongoing research in the historical context of viral hepatitis research.