DeCure's autonomous AMR AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for viral human hepatitis infection — screening already-approved drugs against its 2-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleViral human hepatitis infection maps to a 2-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 viral human hepatitis infection 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
neural cell adhesion molecule 1 (NCAM1) — NCAM1 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 apo structuredrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 2VKW · 2.3 Å · ligand none (apo structure). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
Seventy-five patients with severe viral hepatitis were treated with hemoperfusion adsorption alone (24 cases), plasma exchange alone (17 cases), or plasma exchange plus hemoperfusion adsorption (34 cases). All three therapies improved clinical symptoms and significantly reduced aminotransferase, total bilirubin, and direct bilirubin levels. Plasma exchange, both alone and combined with hemoperfusion, also significantly shortened prothrombin time and increased prothrombin activity. The combined therapy and plasma exchange alone were judged better than hemoperfusion adsorption alone. Side effects were few and mild. The study did not report survival rates, mortality, or long-term outcomes such as progression to cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma.
Glycosylation changes in serum proteins are detectable in patients with hepatitis B and C virus infections, particularly when fibrosis or cirrhosis is confirmed. Viral envelope glycoproteins are essential for recognition, binding, and entry into host cells. The review argues that a systemic investigation of the complete N-glycome may be a more specific biomarker than any single glycosylated molecule. These glycans are proposed as potential targets for novel treatment strategies, but no such treatment is tested or described in the abstract.
Hepatitis E virus infects more than 20 million individuals annually, causing three million symptomatic cases and 56,000 recognised deaths. Viral factors, including specific genotypes and mutants, can modulate replication and pathogenesis, but knowledge of how genome variants contribute to susceptibility, clinical outcome, or antiviral resistance remains limited. Nonsynonymous substitutions may dysregulate virus-host interactions, but the review does not present any clinical trial or treatment data.
For hepatitis B virus antiviral treatment, the optimal clinical outcomes include liver histopathological changes, occurrence and severity of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, mortality and survival rates, survival time and quality of life, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission and reinfection after liver transplantation. These indicators require prolonged follow-up. No specific drug or treatment regimen is evaluated in this abstract. What is still missing are adequately powered trials that report these long-term clinical endpoints rather than short-term biochemical changes, and studies that stratify patients by viral genotype, glycosylation profile, or mutational status.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
World Journal of Gastroenterology · 2004 · 12 citations · open access
Effects of hemoperfusion adsorption and/or plasma exchange in treatment of severe viral hepatitis: A comparative study
AbstractAIM: Non-bioartificial liver has been applied to clinic for quite a long time, but the reported efficacy has been very different. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of hemoperfusion adsorption, plasma exchange and plasma exchange plus hemoperfusion adsorption in treatment of severe viral hepatitis. METHODS: Seventy-five patients with severe viral hepatitis were treated with hemoperfusion adsorption therapy (24 cases), plasma exchange therapy (17 cases) and plasma exchange plus hemoperfusion adsorption therapy (34 cases). The data of liver function, renal function, blood routine test, prothrombin time (PT) and prothrombin activity (PTa) pre- and post-therapy were analyzed. RESULTS: Clinical symptoms of patients improved after treatment. The levels of aminotransferase, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin decreased significantly after 3 therapies (P<0.05 or P<0.01). PT, the level of total serum protein decreased significantly and PTa increased significantly after plasma exchange therapy and plasma exchange plus hemoperfusion adsorption therapy (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The side effects were few and mild in all patients. CONCLUSION: Three therapies were effective in the treatment of severe viral hepatitis. Plasma exchange therapy and plasma exchange plus hemoperfusion adsorption therapy are better than hemoperfusion adsorption therapy.
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects · 2021 · 7 citations · open access
Glycosylation in viral hepatitis
AbstractBACKGROUND: The interaction between hepatitis viruses and host cells is regulated by glycans exposed on the surfaces of human and viruses cells. As the biosynthesis and degradation of human glycoproteins take place at the highest level in the liver, the changes in glycosylation of serum proteins may potentially be useful in the diagnosis of liver pathology. On the other hand, specific alterations in viruses envelope glycans could cause large changes in the entry process of hepatitis viruses into a host cells. SCOPE OF REVIEW: Unique alterations in glycosylation of specific proteins can be detected in HBV and HCV infected patients especially with confirmed fibrosis/cirrhosis. On the other hand, viral envelope proteins that bind to host cells are glycosylated. These glycosylated proteins play a key role in recognition, binding and penetration of the host cells. In this review we summarized the knowledge about significance of glycosylation for viral and host factors. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS: Glycosylation changes in single serum glycoproteins are noticed in the sera of patients with viral hepatitis. However, a more specific biomarker for the diagnosis of chronic hepatitis than that of a single glycosylated molecule is systemic investigation of complete set of glycan structures (N-glycome). Glycans play important roles in the viral biology cycle especially as a connecting element with host receptors. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: The interaction between virus glycoproteins and cellular receptors, which are also glycoproteins, determines the possibility of virus penetration into host cells. Therefore these glycans can be the targets for the developing of novel treatment strategies of viral hepatitis.
Robert-Koch-Institut (RKI) · 2016 · 2 citations · open access
Hepatitis E Virus Mutations: Functional and Clinical Relevance
AbstractHepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is a major cause of acute hepatitis and affects more than 20 million individuals, with three million symptomatic cases and 56,000 recognized HEV-related deaths worldwide. HEV is endemic in developing countries and is gaining importance in developed countries, due to increased number of autochthone cases. Although HEV replication is controlled by the host immune system, viral factors (especially specific viral genotypes and mutants) can modulate HEV replication, infection and pathogenesis. Limited knowledge exists on the contribution of HEV genome variants towards pathogenesis, susceptibility and to therapeutic response. Nonsynonymous substitutions can modulate viral proteins structurally and thus dysregulate virus-host interactions. This review aims to compile knowledge and discuss recent advances on the casual role of HEV heterogeneity and its variants on viral morphogenesis, pathogenesis, clinical outcome and antiviral resistance.
[Current status and future views of indicators for clinical outcome of antiviral treatment in patients with hepatitis B virus infection].
AbstractThe optimal clinical outcomes are the original intention and base to form the short-term, long-term and special goals of antiviral treatment in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The immediate indicators for assessment of antiviral clinical outcomes, which usually need prolonged follow-up, include the liver histopathological changes, the occurrence and severity of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), mortality and survival rates, survival time and life quality, prevention rates of Mother-to-Child Transmission and HBV reinfection after liver transplantation, etc.
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.
