title: Treatment of children with chronic hepatitis B with a combination of steroids and human lymphoblastoid interferon.
abstract: The efficacy of human lymphoblastoid interferon (Wellferon) therapy was measured in 20 children with chronic hepatitis B with or without pretreatment with prednisolone. Patients were randomised to receive 0.6 mg/kg/day prednisolone for 3 weeks, then at 0.3 mg/kg for a fourth week or placebo. All patients then received interferon 5 MU/m2 i.m. for 12 weeks; daily for 5 days then three times a week for the remaining 11 weeks. Preliminary results show that 25% of children had a permanent loss of viral markers of replication. However, response to interferon varied widely between individuals and a prolonged follow-up is required in order to determine the influence of prednisolone pretreatment on the efficacy of interferon therapy.
authors.affiliation: Clinica Malattie Infettive, Università di Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Giacchino
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Facco
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giambartolomei
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Navone
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Timitilli
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cirillo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barigione
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Terragna
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007370:Interferon Type I / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011897:Random Allocation
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D007370:Interferon Type I; D011239:Prednisolone; D000410:Alanine Transaminase