Antiviral treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection. I. Changes in viral markers with interferon combined with adenine arabinoside.
Twenty patients with chronic active hepatitis and 12 patients with chronic persistent hepatitis associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection were treated with human leukocyte interferon or adenine arabinoside alone or in combination. With interferon alone, four of 16 patients showed a permanent disappearance of HBV-associated DNA polymerase (DNAP) activity from serum. Of six patients treated with adenine arabinoside alone, only one patient became permanently DNAP-negative. With a regimen of multiple cycles of combined interferon and adenine arabinoside, seven of 16 male patients became permanently DNAP-negative. Of 69 patients who met the criteria for admission to the program, spontaneous decreases in DNAP activity without treatment were observed in only 9% during a mean observation period of 10 months. In general, patients with chronic active hepatitis, those who are female, and those with a history of recent steroid therapy responded to the antiviral agents significantly better than did the other patients.
D000328:Adult; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000276:immunology; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008099:Liver / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D014740:Vidarabine / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D007372:Interferons; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase; D014740:Vidarabine