Table 3.
Different types of antivirals previously tested against hepatitis A.
| Antiviral agents against HAV | Types | Description | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| HATs | |||
| Interferons | (i) Interferon-alpha (IFN-α) | (i) IFN-α has antiviral activity against HAV replication | [117–121] |
| (ii) Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) | (ii) Its use is unsafe for severe HAV infections, including fulminant hepatitis | ||
| (iii) Interferon-lambda (IL-29, IL-28A and B) | (iii) Recombinant IFN-γ displays antiviral activity against chronic HAV infection | ||
| (iv) IL-29 and IL-28A inhibit HAV IRES-mediated translation | |||
| (v) Compared to IFN-α, it had fewer side effects, such as hematological cytotoxicities or depression | |||
| Ribavirin | (i) Acts against RNA and DNA viruses | [122, 123] | |
| (ii) Moderately affects HAV replication in cell culture | |||
| Amantadine | (i) Inhibits viral antigen synthesis, HAV IRES-mediated translation, and HAV replication | [117, 124] | |
| (ii) Its effects may be strain-dependent | |||
| (iii) Stronger inhibitory effects on HAV replication were seen when amantadine was combined with IFN-α or IL-29 | |||
| Agents against host enzymes and cellular factors | (i) Autoantigen la | (i) These proteins may interact with HAV IRES RNA and might be associated with HAV replication and IRES-mediated translation | [62, 125–128] |
| (ii) GAPDH | |||
| (iii) Polypyrimidine tract-binding protein | |||
| (iv) Poly(C) binding protein 2 | |||
| (v) Polyadenylate-bindingprotein-1 (PABP) | |||
| (vi) Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) an4G (eIF4G) | |||
| (vii) Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor | |||
|
| |||
| DAAs | |||
| Cysteine protease inhibitors | (i) Peptide aldehyde | (i) Play a crucial part in the HAV polyprotein's processing, thus affecting HAV replication | [129–132] |
| (ii) A peptidyl monofluoromethyl ketone (peptidyl-FMK) | |||
| (iii) Beta-lactones | |||
| (iv) Hexanucleotide (G(5)T) | |||
| siRNAs | (i) siRNAs against the HAV 2C- and 3D-coding regions | (i) siRNAs generally knock down target genes and prevent them from producing a functional protein | [133–136] |
| (ii) This group of siRNAs acts against HAV nonstructural protein-coding regions related to HAV replicon replication | |||
| (ii) RNase III endoribonuclease-prepared siRNAs (esiRNAs) and some short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) | (iii) They target HAV IRES and suppress HAV IRES-mediated translation | ||
| (iv) Compared to a single transfection, subsequent siRNA transfections targeting different HAV genome sequences may have a more effective and long-lasting silencing effect | |||