Efficacy and safety of combination therapy of natural human interferon beta and ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C patients with genotype 1b and high virus load

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Intern Med. 2010;49(11):957-63. Epub 2010 Jun 1.

Efficacy and safety of combination therapy of natural human interferon beta and

ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C patients with genotype 1b and high virus load.

Arase Y, Suzuki F, Akuta N, Sezaki H, Suzuki Y, Kawamura Y, Kobayashi M, Hosaka

T, Yatsuji H, Hirakawa M, Saito S, Ikeda K, Kobayashi M, Kumada H.

Department of Hepatology and Okinaka Memorial Institute for Medical Research,

Toranomon Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. es9y-ars@...

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of combination

therapy of natural human interferon-beta and ribavirin in patients infected with

hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1b. METHODS: Inclusion criteria were

HCV-genotype 1b, serum HCV RNA level of>or=100 KIU/ml before the initiation of

treatment. A total of 40 patients were enrolled in this retrospective cohort

study. The treatment period of combination therapy was 48 weeks. Nonparametric

procedures were employed for the analysis of background features of the patients

with SVR and without SVR. A p value of <0.05 was considered to indicate a

significant difference. RESULTS: Of the 40 study patients, ten had mental

disorders before the initiation of combination therapy. One of the patients

stopped the treatment due to exacerbation of depression and another patient

stopped due to a skin rash. Three patients suspended the therapy due to an

insufficient response of positive serum HCV RNA at 24 weeks after the initiation

of treatment. Thus, 34 patients completed combination therapy. Fifteen had

sustained virological response (SVR). The SVR rate in patients who showed

negative HCV RNA 8 weeks after the initiation of combination therapy was 86.7%

(13/15). On the other hand, the SVR rate in patients who showed positive HCV RNA

at 8 weeks was 8% (2/25) (p<.001). Continuous period of negative serum HCV RNA

was 33.1 weeks in SVR groups, and 12.5 weeks in non-SVR groups (p<.001).

CONCLUSION: The combination therapy of IFN-beta and ribavirin is a possible

therapy selection for patients with type C hepatitis of genotype 1b and high

virus load.

PMID: 20519809 [PubMed - in process]

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[Guest guest]

Intern Med. 2010;49(11):957-63. Epub 2010 Jun 1.

Efficacy and safety of combination therapy of natural human interferon beta and

ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C patients with genotype 1b and high virus load.

Arase Y, Suzuki F, Akuta N, Sezaki H, Suzuki Y, Kawamura Y, Kobayashi M, Hosaka

T, Yatsuji H, Hirakawa M, Saito S, Ikeda K, Kobayashi M, Kumada H.

Department of Hepatology and Okinaka Memorial Institute for Medical Research,

Toranomon Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. es9y-ars@...

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of combination

therapy of natural human interferon-beta and ribavirin in patients infected with

hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1b. METHODS: Inclusion criteria were

HCV-genotype 1b, serum HCV RNA level of>or=100 KIU/ml before the initiation of

treatment. A total of 40 patients were enrolled in this retrospective cohort

study. The treatment period of combination therapy was 48 weeks. Nonparametric

procedures were employed for the analysis of background features of the patients

with SVR and without SVR. A p value of <0.05 was considered to indicate a

significant difference. RESULTS: Of the 40 study patients, ten had mental

disorders before the initiation of combination therapy. One of the patients

stopped the treatment due to exacerbation of depression and another patient

stopped due to a skin rash. Three patients suspended the therapy due to an

insufficient response of positive serum HCV RNA at 24 weeks after the initiation

of treatment. Thus, 34 patients completed combination therapy. Fifteen had

sustained virological response (SVR). The SVR rate in patients who showed

negative HCV RNA 8 weeks after the initiation of combination therapy was 86.7%

(13/15). On the other hand, the SVR rate in patients who showed positive HCV RNA

at 8 weeks was 8% (2/25) (p<.001). Continuous period of negative serum HCV RNA

was 33.1 weeks in SVR groups, and 12.5 weeks in non-SVR groups (p<.001).

CONCLUSION: The combination therapy of IFN-beta and ribavirin is a possible

therapy selection for patients with type C hepatitis of genotype 1b and high

virus load.

PMID: 20519809 [PubMed - in process]

_________________________________________________________________

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http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en\

-US:WM_HMP:042010_1