张文宏 z-bio 2025-07-03 2958

　　On May 28, Professor Zhang Wenhong, a famous infectious disease expert, visited the famous teacher lecture hall of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and delivered a wonderful speech entitled "The Evolution of Infectious Diseases and the Game of Human Science and Technology".

　　In his speech, Professor Zhang Wenhong pointed out from a grand historical perspective that compared with the microorganisms that have existed on Earth for billions of years, human civilization is only the "last second" in the long evolutionary history.

　　It is this short period of time when human society gathering and urbanization have created conditions for the spread of infectious diseases and opened up a protracted "game" between humans and infectious diseases.

　　After the speech, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University held a special appointment ceremony, and Professor Wong Yongde, Executive and Vice President of Academic Affairs, issued a letter of appointment to Professor Zhang Wenhong, and formally hired him as an honorary professor in the Department of Medical Technology and Information of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

　　#Professor Zhang Wenhong, Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases Department of Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University and Director of the National Infectious Disease Medical Center, an internationally recognized authority on infectious disease prevention and control. We have been deeply engaged in the fields of clinical diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases and public health and epidemic prevention for a long time, and have led the public's awareness with scientific and rational voice. Our team has continued to produce global influential results in research directions such as viral hepatitis, new infectious diseases prevention and control, and vaccine immunity mechanisms.

　　This year, Zhang Wenhong's team still has continuous achievements. The editor has selected some papers to share. Let's take a look↓↓↓

　　01

　　Journal of Hepatology

　　In February this year, Zhang Wenhong, Zhang Jiming's team, Li Qingxing's team of the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University and Zhang Xinxin's team of Ruijin Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine published a paper titled "PegIFN alpha-2a reduces relapse in HBeAg-negative patients after nucleo(s)tide analogue passage: A randomized-controlled trial" in Journal of Hepatology (IF=26.8). In patients with HBeAg-negative chronic #hepatitis B, the impact of switching to polyethylene glycol interferon α-2a (PegIFN-α-2a) treatment after discontinuation of nucleoside drugs (NUC) on virological recurrence.

　　Through a multicenter randomized controlled trial, 180 patients who received NUC treatment for ≥2.5 years and had good viral load control were divided into the direct discontinuation group and the interferon treatment group, and the follow-up was carried out until 96 weeks.

　　The results showed that the virological recurrence rate (20.8%) in the interferon-treated group was significantly lower than that in the direct discontinuation group (53.6%), and the HBsAg clearance rate was higher (21.5% vs. 9.0%), and the clinical risk of recurrence was also lower. Studies have confirmed that sequential interferon treatment after NUC can be used as an optimization strategy to reduce the recurrence rate while improving the chance of surface antigen removal, providing an important basis for the clinical formulation of drug withdrawal plans.

　　02

　　STTT

　　On April 11, Zhang Wenhong and Professor Wang Youchun from the Institute of Medical Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, as co-corresponding authors, published an article titled "Novel derivatives of brincidofovir and (S)-9-(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)adenine inhibit orthopoxviruses and human adenovirs more potentially than brincidofovir" in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy (IF=40.8).

　　In response to the insufficient efficacy of existing anti-orthopoxvirus drugs such as BCV and Tecauveri, the researchers designed three novel prodrugs based on (S)-HPMPC and (S)-HPMPA to test their antiviral activities against monkeypoxvirus (MPXV), human adenovirus and herpes simplex virus (HSV-1).

　　The results showed that the (S)-HPMPA-based prodrug ODE-(S)-HPMPA formate has significantly better inhibitory effect on orthopoxvirus such as MPXV in vitro and in vivo than BCV, and its EC50 and EC90 are more than 40 times lower than BCV, and its inhibitory efficiency is higher on human adenovirus; while the (S)-HPMPA-based prodrug anti-HSV-1 activity is weaker than that of cidofovir-based prodrug.

　　In addition, the study found that for the first time the combination of cytosine and adenine analogs can completely protect mice from lethal attacks by vowpox and HSV-1. This study shows that ODE-(S)-HPMPA formate monotherapy and combination therapy with BCV have potential clinical application value and deserves further exploration.

　　03

　　Clinical Microbiology and Infection

　　In February, Zhang Wenhong's team, together with Professor Zhu Huadong, Director of the Emergency Department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and Professor Ai Jingwen of the Infection Department of Huashan Hospital, published a paper titled "Efficacy and safety of ZX-7101A, an inhibitor of influenza cap dependent endonuclease, in adults with uncomplicated influenza: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2/3 trial" in Clinical Microbiology and Infection (IF=10.9), to evaluate the efficacy and safety of influenza cap-dependent endonuclease inhibitor ZX-7101A in adults without complications, and to explore drug resistance that appears in treatment.

　　This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of the influenza virus cap-dependent endonuclease inhibitor ZX-7101A in adult patients with no complications through randomized double-blind placebo-controlled phase 2 and 3 clinical trials. The trial stratified patients by weight and baseline symptom scores, randomized to a single dose of 40 mg, 80 mg ZX-7101A or placebo, mainly observing the time to symptom remission (TTAS).

　　The results showed that the median TTAS in both dose groups of ZX-7101A was significantly shorter than that in the placebo group (48.4 hours in the 40 mg group and 39.4 hours in the 80 mg group vs. 62.9 hours in the placebo group), and the safety was better than placebo, and the adverse events were mostly mild and moderate. Furthermore, I38T mutation-mediated resistance was seen in only 1.8% of patients.

　　Research has confirmed that a single dose of ZX-7101A can quickly relieve influenza symptoms and is safe, providing a new and effective choice for influenza treatment.

　　04

　　Genomics Proteomics Bioinformatics

　　On March 13, Zhang Wenhong's team worked with Ai Jingwen's team and, as a co-corresponding author, published a research paper titled "The High Expression of PD-1 Defines A Subpopulation of Tfh Cells Responding to COVID-19 Vaccine in Humans" in the journal Genomics Proteomics Bioinformatics (IF=11.5), and explored the response mechanism of CD4+ T cells after immunization by inactivated COVID-19 vaccine combined with RBD subunits.

　　The research team used single-cell sequencing, flow cytometry and customized VI-TCR analysis algorithms to focus on analyzing the activation and sustained effects of T follicular helper cells (Tfh). The study found that boosting immunity significantly activates classical cTfh cells that express PD-1 and IFN-γ, with a positive correlation with antibody titers, and trajectory analysis confirmed that some virus-induced cTfh cells still maintained immune memory 90 days after inoculation.

　　In addition, the study provides a new method for analyzing single-cell immune data, revealing for the first time the key role of PD-1 highly expressed cTfh cells in enhancing humoral immunity and maintaining long-term antiviral responses, providing an important theoretical basis for optimizing vaccine strategies to induce durable immune protection.

　　05

　　Emerging Microbes & infections

　　On May 6, Zhang Wenhong's team published a research paper entitled "Efficacy and safety of a novel short course rifapentine and isoniazid regimen for the preventive treatment of tuberculosis in Chinese siliosis patients: a pilot study (SCRIPT-TB)" in Emerging Microbes & infections (IF=8.4). The safety and effectiveness of the new short course rifapentine prevention program 1H3P3 (isoniazid combined with rifapentine 3 times a week for 4 weeks) was evaluated for patients with silicosis, a high-ribosten group.

　　238 patients with #silicosis were included in the study, and the treatment was directly observed and followed up for 3 years, compared with the previous 3HP regimen (1 time per week for 3 months) and the observation group. The results showed that the completion rate of the 1H3P3 regimen reached 92.0%, the incidence of adverse events was only 27.7%, and most of them were mild. The cumulative incidence of active tuberculosis in 3 years was 1.67 cases / 100 person-years, which was 74% lower than the observation group (HR=0.26), which was comparable to the 3HP regimen but had better safety.

　　The study confirmed that the 1H3P3 regimen achieved a similar preventive effect as traditional regimens with shorter treatment and higher tolerance, providing important evidence for optimizing prevention strategies for people at high risk of tuberculosis.

　　This year, Professor Zhang Wenhong's team continued to conduct research in the field of infectious disease prevention and control, covering multiple directions such as hepatitis B drug suspension optimization strategy, development of new antiviral drugs, verification of new influenza drugs, exploration of the immune mechanism of the new crown vaccine, and optimization of prevention plans for high-risk populations in tuberculosis. These work provides new ideas and basis for the clinical prevention and treatment of related diseases.