[Therapeutic response to alpha-interferon in chronic alcoholics with viral hepatitis C]

Hepatitis C was treated with interferon alpha in chronic alcoholics and control subjects without alcoholism. The results show that ethanol is an independent risk factor in natural progression of chronic hepatitis C. Moreover, it dose-dependently reduces probability of getting a reliable response to interferon therapy. This makes using interferon alpha treatment of hepatitis C in chronic alcoholics doubtful.