Effective interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis C patients with low viral loads.
Hepatogastroenterology
; 50(51): 817-20, 2003.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-12828092
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIMS:
Possible short-term interferon therapy was investigated in chronic hepatitis C patients with genotype 2a or 2b and low viral-loads. Furthermore, initial changes of hepatic C virus RNA levels in early phase interferon therapy, and the number of pretreatment mutated clones at hypervariable region-1 were determined in order to upgrade interferon therapy efficacy prediction rates.METHODOLOGY:
Study subjects were 31 patients with histologically proven chronic hepatitis C, having less than 1 Meq/mL of hepatic C virus RNA levels. Daily dose was defined as 9 MU of interferon; patients with genotype lb were treated for 26 weeks, while those with genotype 2a or 2b were treated for 16 weeks.RESULTS:
Sustained response rates showed no difference in efficacy between the 2 groups (66.7% vs. 62.5%). Response rates based on the number of hypervariable region-1 clones indicated that the fewer the number of mutated clones, more significant was the increase in efficacy. Efficacy as hepatic C virus RNA in early phase treatment showed no difference in response rates between negative and positive groups at any time point from day 1.CONCLUSIONS:
In a low viral-load group, the number of hypervariable region-1 clones was a critical factor influencing interferon therapy efficacy. Thus, 16-week interferon therapy was effective and economical.
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Antivirais
/
Interferon-alfa
/
Carga Viral
/
Hepatite C Crônica
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Hepatogastroenterology
Ano de publicação:
2003
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Japão