title: Interferon treatment of chronic hepatitis C.
abstract: The natural history of chronic hepatitis C is just beginning to be clarified, with its more common course being an insidiously progressive liver disease that often remains clinically inconsequential for many years or even decades. Although chronic hepatitis C progresses histologically, the impact on the clinical well-being of the patient is less evident. Interferon is an effective therapy for this disease because of its antiviral effect on the cytopathic hepatitis C virus, lowering serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, rather than because of any immune modulatory mechanism. Unfortunately, interferon therapy does not permanently eradicate hepatitis C virus in the majority of patients, and relapse with return of the serum ALT level to the pretreatment range occurs in approximately 70% of responding patients. Other interferon-treated patients continue to be viremic and are not considered to be responders. In addition, not all patients with chronic hepatitis C require treatment. A systematic approach to patient evaluation is necessary to determine the need for treatment, assess treatment response, identify side effects of therapy, and assist in other clinical decisions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville 32610-0214.
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D007372:Interferons