title: Hepatitis C virus serotype II responds more favorably to interferon-alpha therapy.
abstract: To determine whether serological typing of hepatitis C virus correlated with the response to interferon-alpha therapy, hepatitis C virus serotypes were determined by subtype-specific antibody to NS4 polypeptide by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 55 Japanese patients with chronic active hepatitis C who subsequently received recombinant interferon-alpha 2a therapy. Response to interferon-alpha was defined as complete and sustained (n = 12), complete response followed by relapse (n = 26), and no response (n = 17). There was no difference in the clinical biochemical parameters between these patients groups. However, a higher proportion (50.0%) of patients with hepatitis C virus serotype II showed complete and sustained response to interferon-alpha, compared to serotype I (11.1%, p < 0.01). These data indicate that this simple hepatitis C virus serotyping assay is a useful predictor of response to interferon-alpha therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagoya City University Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Orito
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mizokami
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mizoguchi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohba
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tohnai
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamanaka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oguri
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hirashima
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koide
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000276:immunology; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood / Q000145:classification / Q000628:therapy*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D006801:Humans; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012703:Serotyping
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral; D011994:Recombinant Proteins