Glossary

HBV – hepatitis B, a virus that causes liver disease.

Hepatitis B.

half-life (T1/2) – the time taken a drug to clear from the highest concentration to half this level. Drugs have different half-lives in different compartments (ie half-life in blood can be different from the half-life inside a cell). It take 5 x the half-live for a drug to be considered cleared.

prenatal – before birth. The time in which the foetus (developing baby) grows in the uterus.

CSF – cerebral spinal fluid – the fluid that circulates around the brain and spinal column.

gastrointestinal tract (or GI tract) is where we digest our food. It is a long tube that runs from the mouth to the anus. The gastrointestinal tract begins with the mouth and then becomes the oesophagus (food pipe), stomach, duodenum, small intestine, large intestine (colon), rectum and, finally, the anus. It is also called the GI tract.