Pegylated interferon-α for chronic hepatitis B … not ready to be shelved yet! New insights on its role using single-cell transcriptomics

Pegylated-Interferon alpha (PegIFN-α) is a treatment option for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) but has limited efficacy. It has both immune modulatory and antiviral capacity, however the mechanisms of PegIFN-α in relation to CHB pathogenesis remain understudied. The current editorial reviews a recent study related to the in-vivo use of PegIFN-α using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology. PegIFN-α reverts the transcriptome profile of treated samples close to that of the healthy population, diminishing the pro-inflammatory genes and ‘inflammatory scores’ which will be important for the HBV-cure program.