Hepatitis C virus serotype II responds more favorably to interferon-alpha therapy.
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.
Orito
E
E
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Nagoya City University Medical School, Japan.
Mizokami
M
M
Mizoguchi
N
N
Ohba
K
K
Tohnai
M
M
Yamanaka
H
H
Oguri
T
T
Hirashima
N
N
Koide
T
T
Kano
H
H
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
D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral; D011994:Recombinant Proteins