Related Experiment Videos
Improved response to ribavirin interferon combination compared with interferon alone in patients with type 4 chronic
A Koshy1, P Marcellin, M Martinot
1Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University.
Unlabelled:
Response to treatment with alpha interferon with or without concomitant ribavirin varies according to the viral genotype in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
Aim:
This study was undertaken in order to determine the response of genotype 4 chronic hepatitis C to interferon and ribavirin combination compared to interferon alone in patients without cirrhosis.
Methods:
Fifty-two patients were given interferon alone at a dose of 5 million units, 3 times a week and another 60 patients were administered with interferon combined with ribavarin (1,000-1,200 mg/ day) for 24 weeks. Sustained biochemical response was defined as normal ALT, 6 months after end of therapy. Sustained virologic response was defined as negative HCV RNA, 6 months after the end of therapy.
Results:
Only 10/52 (19%) patients showed sustained biochemical response after interferon alone, while 31/60 (52%) showed sustained biochemical response after interferon combined with ribavirin (p<0.01). Only 4/52 (8%) patients showed sustained virologic response after interferon alone, while 25/60 (42%) showed sustained virologic response after interferon combined with ribavirin (p<0.001).
Conclusion:
These results show that patients with chronic hepatitis due to hepatitis C virus type 4 show a poor response to interferon alone but a better response to interferon combined with ribavirin.