DeCure's autonomous AMR AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for Hepatitis — screening already-approved drugs against its 24-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleHepatitis maps to a 24-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for hepatitis is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
double PHD fingers 3 (DPF3) — DPF3 is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet unxdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 5I3L · 1.85 Å · ligand UNKNOWN ATOM OR ION (UNX). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
In a 2002 cost-effectiveness model of HIV-HCV co-infected patients with moderate hepatitis, combination therapy with interferon-based regimens increased quality-adjusted life expectancy by 6.2 to 13.9 months depending on genotype. For genotype 1, adding pegylated interferon to ribavirin provided an extra 1.6 quality-adjusted life-months at a cost of $40,000 per QALY. For non-1 genotypes, the same addition yielded only 3 extra quality-adjusted life-months at $105,300 per QALY. The model assumed a mean CD4 count of 350 cells/µL and moderate hepatitis; no actual patient outcomes were measured.
A 30-year prospective study of 2070 tuberculosis patients treated with rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol found that only 63 patients (3.0%) developed drug-related hepatitis requiring a change in treatment. The presumed causative drug was pyrazinamide in 57% of cases, rifampicin in 32%, isoniazid in 11%, and ethambutol in 0%. White patients had a significantly higher incidence than South Asian patients (5.8% vs 2.33%; odds ratio 2.13, p=0.008), and incidence increased with age (odds ratio 1.16, p=0.02). No trend of increasing hepatitis rates was observed over the 30-year period.
A 2024 editorial on chronic hepatitis B notes that current drugs cannot eradicate the virus, so the main goal remains a functional cure. Guidelines disagree on who should be treated and for how long, and the editorial questions whether expanding treatment indications is desirable. A 2025 review of acute hepatitis treatments describes antiviral agents, hepatoprotective drugs, and supportive therapies, but provides no concrete numbers on survival, response rates, or sample sizes from the studies it cites.
What is still missing are prospective trials testing specific drug combinations in acute hepatitis with hard endpoints, a consensus on which chronic hepatitis B patients benefit from treatment, and cost-effectiveness data that reflect actual clinical outcomes rather than modelled estimates.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · 2014 · 287 citations · open access
Ketoconazole in Cushing's Disease: Is It Worth a Try?
AbstractBACKGROUND: The use of ketoconazole has been recently questioned after warnings from the European Medicine Agencies and the Food and Drug Administration due to potential hepatotoxicity. However, ketoconazole is frequently used as a drug to lower circulating cortisol levels. Several pharmacological agents have recently been approved for the treatment of Cushing's disease (CD) despite limited efficacy or significant side effects. Ketoconazole has been used worldwide for more than 30 years in CD, but in the absence of a large-scale study, its efficacy and tolerance are still under debate. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a French retrospective multicenter study reviewing data from patients treated by ketoconazole as a single agent for CD, with the aim of clarifying efficacy and tolerance to better determine the benefit/risk balance. RESULTS: Data from 200 patients were included in this study. At the last follow-up, 49.3% of patients had normal urinary free cortisol (UFC) levels, 25.6% had at least a 50% decrease, and 25.4% had unchanged UFC levels. The median final dose of ketoconazole was 600 mg/d. Forty patients (20%) received ketoconazole as a presurgical treatment; 40% to 50% of these patients showed improvement of hypertension, hypokalemia, and diabetes, and 48.7% had normal UFC before surgery. Overall, 41 patients (20.5%) stopped the treatment due to poor tolerance. Mild (<5N, inferior to 5-fold normal values) and major (>5N, superior to 5-fold normal values) increases in liver enzymes were observed in 13.5% and 2.5% of patients, respectively. No fatal hepatitis was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Ketoconazole is an effective drug with acceptable side effects. It should be used under close liver enzyme monitoring. Hepatotoxicity is usually mild and resolves after drug withdrawal.
Archives of Internal Medicine · 2002 · 43 citations
Treatment for Hepatitis C Virus in Human Immunodeficiency Virus–Infected Patients
AbstractBACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an important cause of liver disease in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. OBJECTIVE: To assess the cost-effectiveness of alternative management strategies for chronic HCV in co-infected patients with moderate hepatitis. METHODS: A state-transition model was used to simulate a cohort of HIV-infected patients with a mean CD4 cell count of 350 cells/ micro L and moderate chronic hepatitis C stratified by genotype. Strategies included interferon alfa (48 weeks), pegylated interferon alfa (48 weeks), interferon alfa and ribavirin (24 and 48 weeks), pegylated interferon alfa and ribavirin (48 weeks), and no treatment. Outcomes included life expectancy, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. RESULTS: Treatment for moderate chronic HCV with combination therapy using an interferon-based regimen reduced the incidence of cirrhosis and provided gains in quality-adjusted life expectancy ranging from 6.2 to 13.9 months, depending on genotype. Regardless of genotype, the cost-effectiveness of interferon alfa and ribavirin for patients with moderate hepatitis was lower than $50 000 per QALY vs the next best strategy. With genotype 1, pegylated interferon alfa (vs interferon alfa) and ribavirin therapy provided an additional 1.6 quality-adjusted life-months for $40 000 per QALY. Because treatment is more effective with non-1 genotypes, pegylated interferon (vs interferon alfa) and ribavirin provided only 3 additional quality-adjusted life-months for $105 300 per QALY. For patients who were intolerant of ribavirin, monotherapy with pegylated interferon was always the most cost-effective option. CONCLUSIONS: Combination therapy for moderate hepatitis in coinfected patients will increase quality-adjusted life expectancy and have a cost-effectiveness ratio comparable to that of other well-accepted clinical interventions.
The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease · 2016 · 24 citations
Drug-related hepatitis in patients treated with standard anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy over a 30-year period
AbstractSETTING: Drug-induced hepatitis is known to occur in a proportion of patients on treatment for active tuberculosis (TB). DESIGN: We prospectively examined the incidence of drug-induced hepatitis in 2070 patients treated for TB with the standard regimen based on 6 months of rifampicin (R, RMP) and isoniazid (H, INH), with 2 months of initial pyrazinamide (Z, PZA) and ethambutol (E, EMB), over a 30-year period from 1981 to 2010, in Blackburn, UK. RESULTS: Of the 1031 (49.8%) males and 1039 (50.2%) females studied, 451 (21.8%) were White and 1585 (76.6%) were of South Asian origin. Only 34 (1.6%) were of African or other origins. Of the total number of patients treated, 63 (3.0%) had drug-related hepatitis, 26 (5.8%) of whom were White, 37 (2.33%) Asians and 0 other. Incidence was significantly higher in Whites than Asians (OR 2.13, P = 0.008). Incidence increased with increasing age (OR 1.16, P = 0.02). The presumed causative drug was PZA 57%, RMP 32%, INH 11%, EMB 0%. There was no trend of increased hepatitis rates over time. CONCLUSION: Rates of drug-induced hepatitis where change of treatment is required are low in patients treated with standard RHZE-based therapy (3%). Caucasians and older patients were more likely to develop hepatitis than their counterparts.
The American Journal of Gastroenterology · 2001 · 14 citations
Thiamine treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection
AbstractOBJECTIVE: Chronic hepatitis B is an international health concern that causes cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver failure, and death. Current treatment options are expensive and associated with side effects; however, indirect evidence suggests a relationship between relative thiamine deficiency and chronic hepatitis B infection. METHODS: The authors present three case studies wherein multiple crossovers of daily thiamine administration were used to evaluate a hypothesized association between thiamine treatment and aminotransferase levels. RESULTS: In each case study, thiamine administration was associated with reduction in aminotransferase levels and the fall of HBV DNA to undetectable levels. Analyses by t test demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in aminotransferase levels in all three cases. CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between thiamine administration and chronic hepatitis B infection warrants further study. If proven effective in reducing liver damage or inducing remission of the hepatitis B virus in larger trials, thiamine will offer obvious advantages over the current treatments for chronic viral hepatitis B infection.
World Journal of Gastroenterology · 2024 · 5 citations · open access
Expanding indications for chronic hepatitis B treatment: Is it really desirable to treat everyone?
AbstractChronic viral hepatitis causes an increased risk of progressive liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. On the wave of the World Health Organization's goal to reduce new cases and deaths from hepatitis B and C by 2030, there is an increasing call to expand the indications for treatment of chronic hepatitis B. Currently, the main goal of treatment is to achieve a functional cure due to the inability of current drugs to completely eradicate the virus. There are still many discrepancies between available guidelines in terms of eligibility for treatment as well as an uncertainty about the appropriate treatment duration. This editorial addresses key questions about the topic and whether indications for treatment should be expanded.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2025 · 0 citations · open access
APPLICATION OF MEDICINAL DRUGS IN ACUTE HEPATITIS
AbstractAcute hepatitis is a potentially life-threatening condition that involves inflammation of the liver. The disease can be caused by various factors, including viral infections, alcohol consumption, and toxic substances, among others. This article provides a detailed review of the current medicinal treatments available for acute hepatitis, with a focus on antiviral agents, hepatoprotective medications, and supportive therapies. Through an extensive review of recent clinical studies and case reports, this article aims to highlight the effectiveness of these therapies, assess the safety profile of different drugs, and discuss their clinical outcomes. The findings reveal the importance of early diagnosis, the use of appropriate medicinal drugs, and the role of combination therapies in improving patient outcomes and preventing liver failure.
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.
