Quick Dips

Hepatitis B Solution?

New Zealand researchers believe they are close to isolating a substance which will combat Hepatitis B, but are experiencing frustrating delays in having the material evaluated.

The Hepatitis B virus (HBV) can lead to acute hepatitis and liver damage, as well as a high incidence of liver cancer. It is far more infectious and widespread than AIDS, but has received comparatively little publicity -- a result of being an affliction of lower socio-economic groups, it is said. There are over 50,000 people with chronic HBV infection in New Zealand, and the carrier pool is concentrated in the Maori and Pacific Island population.

DSIR Chemistry and the New Zealand Hepatitis Research Unit in Whakatane have been working on using Phyllanthus amarus against HBV infection. The tropical plant has proved promising, and is the subject of study around the world.

Dr Laiyeap Foo, a DSIR chemist, has been the first to isolate and identify several chemically complex, anti-viral compounds from the herb. He believes that two of them could be the ones which are active against HBV, but has been unable to have them evaluated.

"The delay only causes the disease to spread further, and the health risks to untreated carriers far outweigh the remote possibility of toxicity of the natural anti-viral compounds," says Foo. The plant has been used medicinally for many centuries without apparent health problems.

Research on the pure compounds is important, Foo maintains, as the natural levels within the plant can vary considerably. Foo has seen the concentration of one compound undergo a three-fold change over a 3-4 month period. Such changes explain the variability in the plant's efficacy.

Foo is concerned that the lead New Zealand now has could be lost due to the delay in having these compounds evaluated and, with this, a loss of the rights to commercialise the treatment if it proves successful. With 300 million HBV carriers worldwide, the commercial return could be enormous, Foo says.