RT - Journal TY - JOUR A1 - Chang, Jia-Ming A1 - Huang, Kai-Ling T1 - Complementary and alternative therapies in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B YR - 2007/1/1 JF - Hepatitis B Annual JO - Hep B Annual SP - 72 OP - 106 VO - 4 IS - 1 UL - https://www.hepatitisbannual.org/article.asp?issn=0972-9747;year=2007;volume=4;issue=1;spage=72;epage=106;aulast=Chang;t=5 DO - 10.4103/0972-9747.45091 N2 - Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infects approximately more than 350 million people worldwide, especially in Asia, Africa, southern Europe and Latin America. Except for interferon-α, most anti-HBV drugs are derived from the anti-herpes and anti-HIV drugs. Because of the high cost of hepatitis B medications, herbs-also called 'complementary and alternative therapies' in modern Western science-are widely used for treatment of chronic hepatitis B in developing countries. Herbals confer their activities not only by inhibiting HBV secretion but also by building up immunity against viruses. After studying the anti-HBV mechanism of herbs, scientists were encouraged to find that novel anti-HBV drugs target viral secretion, whereas nucleoside analogues target viral polymerase. The complementary and alternative anti-HBV therapies published in scientific peer-reviewed journals are reviewed and discussed in this article. ER -