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Pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin therapy may induce working memory disturbances in chronic hepatitis C
Tomasz Pawelczyk1, Agnieszka Pawelczyk, Dominik Strzelecki
1Department of Affective and Psychotic Disorders, Medical University of Lodz, 8/10 Czechosłowacka Street, 92-216 Lodz, Poland. tpawelczyk@o2.pl
Objective:
This study was designed to determine the effect of 12-week pegylated IFNalpha plus ribavirin (peg-IFNalpha/RBV) treatment on cognitive performance in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients.
Method:
Forty-seven CHC patients were consecutively enrolled and divided into two groups: active treatment and control (26 and 21 participants, respectively). Treatment-group patients received peg-IFNalpha/RBV treatment for 48 weeks in standard doses. Control-group patients did not receive the above treatment. Both groups underwent neuropsychological examination at the beginning and after 12 weeks of treatment or observation. Neuropsychological evaluation consisted of Stroop Color-Word Test and Trail Making Test.
Results:
Cognitive performance decreased significantly in the treatment group after 12 weeks of combination therapy, which was not seen in the control group.
Conclusion:
The findings suggest that peg-IFNalpha/RBV therapy of CHC patients is related to cognitive performance decline and is a result of IFNalpha-induced neurotransmission abnormalities in the limbic system, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex.
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