Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40003989›Full record

ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences2025

Evaluation of the Potency of Repurposed Antiretrovirals in HBV Therapy: A Narrative Investigation of the Traditional Medicine Alternatives.

Samuel Chima Ugbaja, Ata Thabo Mokoena, Aganze Gloire-Aimé Mushebenge, Hezekiel M Kumalo, Mlungisi Ngcobo, Nceba Gqaleni

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in International journal of molecular sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Samuel Chima UgbajaDiscipline of Traditional Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa.
Ata Thabo MokoenaDiscipline of Traditional Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa.
Aganze Gloire-Aimé MushebengeDiscipline of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0001-8745-8097
Hezekiel M KumaloDrug Research and Innovation Unit, Discipline of Medical Biochemistry, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa.
Mlungisi NgcoboDiscipline of Traditional Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa.
Nceba GqaleniDiscipline of Traditional Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0003-1946-3120

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Hepatitis B is one of the killer communicable diseases, with a global estimation of 1.1 million deaths resulting from liver diseases annually. The search for HBV therapeutics has resulted in repurposing the existing antiretrovirals (ARVs) for HBV treatment, considering their shared common replication mechanisms. This review is aimed at evaluating the potencies of some of the repurposed ARVs used for HBV treatment, analyzing the common mechanisms of viral replications in HBV and HIV, and investigating the potentials of traditional medicines as an alternative treatment for HBV patients. The topical keywords drug repurposing, drug repositioning, antiretrovirals, hepatitis B treatment, HBV, natural products, traditional medicines, title, and abstract were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The advanced search included the five years, 2019-2024. The search result was filtered from 377 to 110 relevant articles. The evaluation reveals that CD4+ T cells are targeted by HIV, while HBV targets the liver with its associated diseases (cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)). Furthermore, treatments with the available repurposed ARVs only prevent or slow down the progression to cirrhosis, reduce the HCC incidence, and can improve the quality of life and increase life expectancy; however, they are not curative for HBV. Traditional medicines/natural product extracts or their phytochemicals exert anti-HBV effects through different mechanisms. Traditional medicines exert improved therapeutic effects when combined properly. The investigation further reveals that consideration of an in silico approach in HBV therapeutics might not only streamline drug development but also contribute to a deeper understanding of viral pathogenesis. Therefore, we recommend the integration of computational drug design methods with traditional medicine and natural product screening for discovering new bioactive HBV drug candidates.

Indexed as

Anti-Retroviral AgentsAntiviral AgentsDrug RepositioningHepatitis BHepatitis B virusMedicine, TraditionalHumansVirus ReplicationAnti-Retroviral AgentsAntiviral AgentsARVcomputational drug designHBV therapyhepatocellular carcinomaHIVrepurposingtraditional medicines

Identifiers

PMID40003989
PMCPMC11855344

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.