Alfa-interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis B virus infection in Kuwaiti patients

Alfa-interferon is the standard treatment of chronic hepatitis B. However, the response rate varies widely in patients from different parts of the world, reflecting differences in the natural history of the disease and the immune reactivity of the population studied. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of alfa-interferon in the treatment of Kuwaiti patients with chronic replicative hepatitis B infection. Twenty-two adult Kuwaiti patients with biopsy-proven chronic hepatitis B were treated with alfa-interferon after an observation period of six months. All patients had abnormal transaminase levels and were HBeAg and HBV-DNA positive. Alfa-interferon-2b, 5 million units, was administered five days a week for 16 weeks. Patients were followed for at least 12 months after completing therapy. One of the 22 patients dropped out of the study after a single dose of interferon, because of side effects. Of the remaining 21 patients, three (14%) had a sustained loss of HBV-DNA and HBeAg. None of the patients lost HBsAg. There were no episodes of hepatic decompensation or deaths during the study. One patient developed hepatocellular carcinoma 28 months after completing treatment with interferon. Overall, Kuwaiti patients with chronic replicative hepatitis B responded poorly to interferon therapy.