Antiviral treatment of hepatitis C: present status and future prospects

[Guest guest]

J Infect Chemother. 2006 Oct;12(5):227-32. Epub 2006 Nov 6.

Antiviral treatment of hepatitis C: present status and future prospects.

Koike K.

Department of Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine, Graduate School of

Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655,

Japan. kkoike-tky@...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major cause of chronic hepatitis. A

substantial proportion of patients with chronic hepatitis C eventually

develop hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is one of the leading causes

of death worldwide. Therefore, efficient antiviral treatments for HCV have

long been needed. A recently developed combination therapy of pegylated

interferon and ribavirin has dramatically improved the outcome of antiviral

therapy for HCV infection. In genotype 1b HCV infection, 48 weeks of the

combination therapy achieved eradication of the virus in 50% of patients,

and in genotype 2 HCV infection, 24 weeks of the therapy resulted in viral

eradication in 80%-90% of patients. By this eradication, an improvement in

the hepatic fibrosis, an inhibition of HCC development, and an improvement

in life expectancy were attained. Patients who did not respond to the

combination therapy may be treated with long-term interferon monotherapy,

which is not intended to eradicate HCV, but will lower the serum alanine

aminotransferase (ALT) level. Thus, the treatment for HCV infection has

progressed significantly, but therapies with new modalities, such as

inhibitors of viral protease or RNA polymerase, are still being awaited.

PMID: 17109084 [PubMed - in process]

_________________________________________________________________

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[Guest guest]

J Infect Chemother. 2006 Oct;12(5):227-32. Epub 2006 Nov 6.

Antiviral treatment of hepatitis C: present status and future prospects.

Koike K.

Department of Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine, Graduate School of

Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8655,

Japan. kkoike-tky@...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major cause of chronic hepatitis. A

substantial proportion of patients with chronic hepatitis C eventually

develop hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is one of the leading causes

of death worldwide. Therefore, efficient antiviral treatments for HCV have

long been needed. A recently developed combination therapy of pegylated

interferon and ribavirin has dramatically improved the outcome of antiviral

therapy for HCV infection. In genotype 1b HCV infection, 48 weeks of the

combination therapy achieved eradication of the virus in 50% of patients,

and in genotype 2 HCV infection, 24 weeks of the therapy resulted in viral

eradication in 80%-90% of patients. By this eradication, an improvement in

the hepatic fibrosis, an inhibition of HCC development, and an improvement

in life expectancy were attained. Patients who did not respond to the

combination therapy may be treated with long-term interferon monotherapy,

which is not intended to eradicate HCV, but will lower the serum alanine

aminotransferase (ALT) level. Thus, the treatment for HCV infection has

progressed significantly, but therapies with new modalities, such as

inhibitors of viral protease or RNA polymerase, are still being awaited.

PMID: 17109084 [PubMed - in process]

_________________________________________________________________

MSN Shopping has everything on your holiday list. Get expert picks by style,

age, and price. Try it!

http://shopping.msn.com/content/shp/?ctId=8000,ptnrid=176,ptnrdata=200601 & tcode=\

wlmtagline