scholarly journals Differential Impact of Adherence to Pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin in the Treatment of Genotype 1 High Viral Titer Chronic Hepatitis C

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Makoto Numata ◽  
Tatehiro Kagawa ◽  
Sei-ichiro Kojima ◽  
Shunji Hirose ◽  
Naruhiko Nagata ◽  
...  

To clarify the impact of adherence, we treated 122 genotype 1 high viral titer chronic hepatitis C patients with pegylated interferon (peg-IFN) and ribavirin for 48 weeks at nine referral hospitals, and evaluated the prognostic factors with a focus on the adherence to the treatment. This study included 68 (55.7%) treatment-naïve patients and 54 (44.3%) patients who did not respond to the previous treatment. Multivariate analysis revealed adherence to peg-IFN and ribavirin as the only significant predictor. Sustained virological response (SVR) rate was 72.2%, 19.0%, and 27.3% in patients given ≥80%, 60%–80%, and <60% dose peg-IFN, respectively, and was 68.6%, 41.2%, and 5.3% in those given ≥80%, 60%–80%, and <60% dose ribavirin, respectively. SVR rate sharply fell when exposure to peg-IFN was below 80% whereas it decreased in a stepwise manner as for ribavirin. Therefore, ≥80% of peg-IFN and as much as possible dose of ribavirin are desired to achieve SVR in the treatment of genotype 1 high viral titer chronic hepatitis C.

2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Ioannis S. Elefsiniotis ◽  
Christos Pavlidis ◽  
Elena Vezali ◽  
Theodoros Mariolis-Sapsakos ◽  
Sotirios Koutsounas ◽  
...  

Aim. To evaluate the impact of hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) seropositivity in sustained virological response (SVR) rates in treatment-naïve, chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients with high pretreatment viral load (>800000 IU/mL).Methods. 185 consecutive CHC patients (14.4% cirrhotics, 70.2% prior intravenous drug users) treated with pegylated interferon-a2b plus ribavirin, for 24 or 48 weeks based on viral genotype, were retrospectively analyzed. SVR was confirmed by undetectable serum HCV-RNA six months after the end of treatment schedule.Results. Thirty percent of CHC/HBsAg-negative patients were anti-HBc-positive. Anti-HBc positivity was more prevalent in cirrhotic, compared to noncirrhotic patients (76.9% versus 19.5%,P<.05). Serum HBV-DNA was detected in the minority of anti-HBc-positive patients (1.97%). Overall, 62.1% of patients exhibited SVR, while 28.6% did not; 71.4% of non-SVRs were infected with genotype 1. In the univariate analysis, the anti-HBc positivity was negatively associated with treatment outcome (P=.065). In the multivariate model, only the advanced stage of liver disease (P=.015) and genotype-1 HCV infection (P=.003), but not anti-HBc-status (P=.726), proved to be independent predictors of non-SVR.Conclusion. Serum anti-HBc positivity does not affect the SVR rates in treatment-naïve CHC patients with high pretreatment viral load, receiving the currently approved combination treatment.


2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 180-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric M Yoshida ◽  
Morris Sherman ◽  
Vincent G Bain ◽  
Curtis L Cooper ◽  
Marc Deschênes ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: Pegylated interferon (pegIFN) and ribavirin combination therapy remains the first-line treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. In contrast to the wealth of studies in treatment-naive patients, the effectiveness of retreatment in patients who have previously failed pegIFN-based therapy is largely unreported.AIM: To assess the effectiveness of the retreatment of patients who have previously failed an initial course of pegIFN-based therapy with pegIFNα-2a and ribavirin.METHODS: A post-hoc analysis of a multicentre open-label study was performed. Patients received pegIFNα-2a and ribavirin at a dose of 800 mg/day and later 1000 mg/day to 1200 mg/day for 24 to 48 weeks at the discretion of the investigator. Outcomes at week 12 (early virological response [EVR]) and week 24 (sustained virological response [SVR]) were analyzed.RESULTS: Eighty-seven patients who had relapsed after previous pegIFN-based therapy (n=28; 78% genotype 1) or were nonresponders (n=59; 71% genotype 1) were analyzed. Of the relapsers, 86% achieved an EVR and 68% achieved an SVR. In relapsers to pegIFN monotherapy (n=15) or pegIFN plus ribavirin (n=13), 60% and 77% achieved an SVR, respectively. Fibrosis and genotype did not affect the likelihood of SVR in relapsers although this may be the result of the relatively small number of patients. In previous nonresponders, an EVR was achieved in 53% but an SVR occurred in only 17%. In nonresponders to pegIFN monotherapy (n=9) and pegIFN plus ribavirin (n=50), 33% and 14% achieved an SVR, respectively. Genotype did not affect SVR in nonresponders. Only 10% with a METAVIR score of F3 or F4 on liver biopsy achieved an SVR.CONCLUSIONS: Relapse after previous pegIFN-based therapy is associated with a strong probability of treatment success whereas retreatment of those with previous nonresponse does not.


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