title: Serum collagen type IV for the assessment of fibrosis and resistance to interferon therapy in chronic hepatitis C.
abstract: Sixty-nine patients with chronic hepatitis C (CH-C) were treated with interferon therapy, and serum collagen type IV (s-collagen IV) levels were measured by enzyme immunoassay to analyze the responsiveness to interferon therapy. Classified by the improved pattern of serum alanine aminotransferase levels after interferon administration, 23 patients were judged as sustained responders, 23 as transient responders, and 23 as non-responders. Fibrotic grades of the liver sample correlated statistically with the levels of s-collagen IV (P < 0.01). Pre-therapy s-collagen IV levels of sustained responders were significantly lower than those of the other responders, and only sustained responders showed a significant decrease of s-collagen IV levels after interferon therapy, in accordance with histologic improvement. Multivariate analysis showed that s-collagen IV and hepatitis C virus genotype were the most important factors affecting the response to interferon therapy of all variates. Thus, s-collagen IV is one of the most useful aids for the evaluation of liver fibrotic grade in CH-C and a potent predicting indicator for the responsiveness to interferon therapy.
authors.affiliation: Second Dept. of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yabu
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kiyosawa
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshizawa
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Furuta
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001483:Base Sequence; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003094:Collagen / Q000097:blood*; D004351:Drug Resistance; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D003094:Collagen; D007372:Interferons