Editing Hepatitis C (section)

== Research ==
{{As of|2011}}, there are about one hundred medications in development for {{nowrap|hepatitis C}}.<ref name=Cost2011>{{cite journal | vauthors = El Khoury AC, Klimack WK, Wallace C, Razavi H | title = Economic burden of hepatitis C-associated diseases in the United States | journal = Journal of Viral Hepatitis | volume = 19 | issue = 3 | pages = 153–60 | date = March 2012 | pmid = 22329369 | doi = 10.1111/j.1365-2893.2011.01563.x | s2cid = 27409621 | doi-access = free }}</ref> These include vaccines to treat hepatitis, [[immunomodulators]], and [[cyclophilin]] inhibitors, among others.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ahn J, Flamm SL | title = Hepatitis C therapy: other players in the game | journal = Clinics in Liver Disease | volume = 15 | issue = 3 | pages = 641–56 | date = August 2011 | pmid = 21867942 | doi = 10.1016/j.cld.2011.05.008 }}</ref> These potential new treatments have come about due to a better understanding of the {{nowrap|hepatitis C}} virus.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Vermehren J, Sarrazin C | title = New HCV therapies on the horizon | journal = Clinical Microbiology and Infection | volume = 17 | issue = 2 | pages = 122–34 | date = February 2011 | pmid = 21087349 | doi = 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2010.03430.x | doi-access = free }}</ref> There are several vaccines under development and some have shown encouraging results.<ref name=Vac2016>{{cite journal | vauthors = Abdelwahab KS, Ahmed Said ZN | title = Status of hepatitis C virus vaccination: Recent update | journal = World Journal of Gastroenterology | volume = 22 | issue = 2 | pages = 862–73 | date = January 2016 | pmid = 26811632 | pmc = 4716084 | doi = 10.3748/wjg.v22.i2.862 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

The combination of [[sofosbuvir]] and [[velpatasvir]] in one trial (reported in 2015) resulted in cure rates of 99%.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Feld JJ, Jacobson IM, Hézode C, Asselah T, Ruane PJ, Gruener N, Abergel A, Mangia A, Lai CL, Chan HL, Mazzotta F, Moreno C, Yoshida E, Shafran SD, Towner WJ, Tran TT, McNally J, Osinusi A, Svarovskaia E, Zhu Y, Brainard DM, McHutchison JG, Agarwal K, Zeuzem S | display-authors = 6 | title = Sofosbuvir and Velpatasvir for HCV Genotype 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 Infection | journal = The New England Journal of Medicine | volume = 373 | issue = 27 | pages = 2599–607 | date = December 2015 | pmid = 26571066 | doi = 10.1056/NEJMoa1512610 | url = http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/17933 | doi-access = free | hdl = 10722/226358 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> More studies are needed to investigate the role of the preventive antiviral medication against HCV recurrence after transplantation.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Gurusamy KS, Tsochatzis E, Toon CD, Davidson BR, Burroughs AK | title = Antiviral prophylaxis for the prevention of chronic hepatitis C virus in patients undergoing liver transplantation | journal = The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews | issue = 12 | pages = CD006573 | date = December 2013 | volume = 2013 | pmid = 24297303 | pmc = 6599865 | doi = 10.1002/14651858.CD006573.pub3 }}</ref>

=== Animal models ===
One barrier to finding treatments for {{nowrap|hepatitis C}} is the lack of a suitable animal model. Despite moderate success, research highlights the need for pre-clinical testing in mammalian systems such as [[mouse]], particularly to develop vaccines in poorer communities. [[Common chimpanzee|Chimpanzees]] remain the only living system to study, yet their use has ethical concerns and regulatory restrictions. While scientists have used human cell culture systems such as hepatocytes, questions have been raised about their accuracy in reflecting the body's response to infection.<ref name=Sand2013>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sandmann L, Ploss A | title = Barriers of hepatitis C virus interspecies transmission | journal = Virology | volume = 435 | issue = 1 | pages = 70–80 | date = January 2013 | pmid = 23217617 | pmc = 3523278 | doi = 10.1016/j.virol.2012.09.044 }}</ref>

One aspect of hepatitis research is to reproduce infections in mammalian models. A strategy is to introduce liver tissues from humans into mice, a technique known as xenotransplantation. This is done by generating chimeric mice and exposing the mice to HCV infection. This engineering process is known to create humanized mice and provide opportunities to study hepatitis C within the 3D architectural design of the liver and evaluate antiviral compounds.<ref name=Sand2013 /> Alternatively, generating inbred mice with susceptibility to HCV would simplify the process of studying mouse models.