Estimation Of Transient Increases In Bleeding Risk Associated With Physical Activity In Children With Haemophilia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$102,143.00
Summary
Haemophilia A and B are genetic conditions which affect 1 in 7,000 males in Australia. These disorders cause frequent bleeding due to problems with the clotting factor in blood. Over the past decade there has been a move to administer clotting factor to children with haemophilia in order to prevent bleeds and the consequent damage to joints that occurs when bleeds occur in a joint. Participation in vigorous physical activity and sport is thought to increase the risk of bleeding. Because of this, ....Haemophilia A and B are genetic conditions which affect 1 in 7,000 males in Australia. These disorders cause frequent bleeding due to problems with the clotting factor in blood. Over the past decade there has been a move to administer clotting factor to children with haemophilia in order to prevent bleeds and the consequent damage to joints that occurs when bleeds occur in a joint. Participation in vigorous physical activity and sport is thought to increase the risk of bleeding. Because of this, children are often given clotting factor prior to playing sport. However clotting factor is extremely expensive. For example, a boy wanting to play tennis three times a week would require three injections of cIotting factor per week at a cost of approximately $250,000 a year. To date there is no good evidence about which physical activities are likely to increase the risk of bleeding. If this information was available clinicians would be able to optimise timing of administration of clotting factor so that it is administered prior to activities associated with high risk of bleeds. Another reason to quantify risk of bleeds associated with activity is to inform decisions about participation in physical activity. Every boy with haemophilia wants to know if he can play sport or ride a skateboard or jump on a trampoline. Informed decisions about participation require accurate estimates of risk. This study will use an innovative design to provide, for the first time, accurate estimates of the risk of bleeding associated with physical activity. This information will form the basis for clinical practice guidelines regarding participation in physical activity.Read moreRead less
Characterisation Of Anti-HBs Responses In Patients Undergoing Functional Hepatitis B Cure: Implication For Future Therapies
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$723,649.00
Summary
The hepatitis B virus causes liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. There is no cure for hepatitis B. However, a small number of patients can naturally rid themselves of the virus. We have identified 14 of these individuals and discovered that they have a unique immune response that is responsible for these “natural” cures. We plan to characterise this immune response and turn it into a therapeutic vaccine which can be used to cure patients who are still chronically infected.
A New Insight Into Hepatitis B Infection:the HBV Fusion Peptide
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$288,210.00
Summary
Three hundred and fifty million people worldwide and 250,000 in Australia are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Without intervention, one third will die as a direct result of this infection through cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer, but current therapies are inadequate. New antiviral treatments requiring the identification of new antiviral targets are needed to combat the disease but a major obstacle to the study of HBV is the lack of a cell culture system. As a result n ....Three hundred and fifty million people worldwide and 250,000 in Australia are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Without intervention, one third will die as a direct result of this infection through cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer, but current therapies are inadequate. New antiviral treatments requiring the identification of new antiviral targets are needed to combat the disease but a major obstacle to the study of HBV is the lack of a cell culture system. As a result nothing is known about how HBV enter and fuses with the host liver cell but we have made significant progress with the identification of the entry and fusion events of the related duck hepatitis B virus, using the duck infection model. This knowledge is now ready for application to the medically important HBV by use of primary human liver cells and the techniques developed in the duck hepatitis B virus model.Read moreRead less
Towards A Functional Cure For HBV: Exploiting Lessons From HBV-HIV Co-infection
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$913,551.00
Summary
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection can be treated, but therapy is usually lifelong and has side effects, so a cure for HBV is very important. We work closely with colleagues in Asia where both HBV and HIV are common so this provides a unique opportunity to study HBV. We will investigate how an effective immune response against the 2 main HBV proteins is developed. If we can understand how the immune response works against HBV, this could be used to develop new therapies to develop a cure for HBV
Worldwide >360 million people have chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection that imparts a 25% lifetime risk of death due to serious liver disease. Current therapies for chronic HBV reduce levels of virus replication but fail to target the stable, nuclear episome, covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA). The current study will determine what is required to eliminate cccDNA and how current therapies for chronic HBV infection should be modified to achieve this aim.