[Clinical study on long-term treatment of chronic hepatitis C with interferon]

We treated 41 chronic hepatitis C patients with recombinant interferon alpha 2a, 6 X 10(6) IU/day, for three weeks daily followed by intermittent therapy, 3 X 10(6) IU/day, three times weekly for 6 months and more. After 6 months of intermittent therapy, serum aminotransferases (AST, ALT) decreased to normal or nearly normal levels in 29 of 41 patients (70.7%) with histological improvement. The HCV (C100-3) antibody disappeared during and after IFN therapy in 7 of 34 HCV antibody positive patients (20.6%). Serum aminotransferases levels of all such patients were normalized or nearly normalized. The IFN antibody was detected in 8 of 41 patients (19.5%) including one whose IFN antibody was already present before starting IFN therapy. IFN treatment was discontinued in 22 of 41 patients (53.7%) because they responded completely or nearly completely to IFN therapy. All of the 22 patients have been maintaining normal aminotransferase levels for 1 to 24 months (mean, 12 months) after the treatment period. We conclude that long-term IFN therapy is greatly beneficial in controlling hepatic inflammatory changes in chronic hepatitis C.