Changes in antibody titers to hepatitis C virus following interferon therapy for chronic infection.
The use of quantitative assays for hepatitis C virus specific antibodies (anti-HCV) as a prognostic marker was evaluated in 31 patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with interferon (IFN). Changes in titers of serum HCV-RNA and anti-HCV antibodies; anti-C11 (anti-core), anti-C100 (anti-NS3), and anti-C7 (anti-NS3) were investigated. Recombinant IFN-alpha 2a was administered and the patients were followed for more than 1 year. The patients were classified into three groups according to their responses to IFN: 11 sustained responders with continuous normalizations of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels; 14 transient responders with transient decreases in ALT; and six nonresponders who had no changes in ALT levels. Ten of 11 sustained responders had a continuous decrease in anti-C11 titers after completion of treatment, decreasing to less than half of pretreatment titers. No patients in the other two groups had a continuous decrease in anti-C11 titers. Although sustained responders had decreases in anti-C100 and anti-C7 titers after IFN therapy, these titers also decreased in some patients in the other two groups. HCV-RNA was not detected in the sera of 10 of 11 sustained responders following IFN therapy. In contrast, while 9 of 10 transient and non-responders had a decrease or disappearance of HCV-RNA at the completion of therapy, they had increased levels thereafter. These results indicate that anti-HCV-core (anti-C11) titers most closely reflect the status of HCV replication. A quantitative assay for anti-HCV-core antibody can be used as a predictive marker of remission in IFN-treated patients with chronic hepatitis C.
Urushihara
A
A
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine Matsumoto, Japan.
Sodeyama
T
T
Matsumoto
A
A
Tanaka
E
E
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D006801:Humans; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D011994:Recombinant Proteins
D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral; D011994:Recombinant Proteins