Alpha- and gamma-interferon versus alpha-interferon alone in chronic hepatitis B. A randomized controlled study.
Thirty-two patients with chronic hepatitis B were randomly assigned to two groups. Sixteen patients received 10 million units of alpha-interferon per square meter of body surface (MU/m2), three times weekly for 4 months. Sixteen patients were treated simultaneously with gamma-interferon at a dose of 2 MU/m2, and 10 MU/m2 of alpha-interferon. At the end of the study (13th month), hepatitis B virus DNA was negative in 50% of the patients treated with alpha-interferon and in only 25% of those treated with alpha- and gamma-interferon. A similar trend was observed with respect to the hepatitis B e antigen negativization (31% and 19% of HBeAg negativization in patients treated with alpha- and gamma-interferon, respectively). In summary, these data demonstrate that, at the doses used in this study, the combination of alpha- and gamma-interferon does not give better results than the administration of alpha-interferon alone. The tolerance to simultaneous alpha- and gamma-interferons is poor and may decompensate the liver disease.
Carreño
V
V
Department of Gastroenterology, Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain.
Moreno
A
A
Galiana
F
F
Bartolomé
F J
FJ
D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007370:Interferon Type I / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D011994:Recombinant Proteins
D015415:Biomarkers; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D007370:Interferon Type I; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D007371:Interferon-gamma