Alpha but not beta interferon is useful in chronic active hepatitis due to hepatitis C virus. A prospective, double-blind, randomized study.
Interferon-alpha has been widely used in chronic hepatitis C, but controlled studies with intramuscular interferon-beta are lacking. We therefore performed a prospective, double-blind, randomized study comparing intramuscular IFN-alpha and -beta in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Sixty patients were randomly assigned to receive 3 MU thrice weekly intramuscularly of either recombinant IFN-alpha or leukocyte IFN-alpha or fibroblast IFN-beta for six months. Nine of 20 patients (45.0%) in the recombinant IFN, 5/19 (26.3%) in the leukocyte IFN, and none in the IFN-beta group had a complete response during therapy (recombinant IFN vs IFN-beta: P < 0.01). Only in IFN-alpha-treated patients, was infection with a single HCV genotype (type 2a or 2b) associated with significantly better long-term outcome. IFN-alpha is useful in chronic hepatitis C while intramuscular IFN-beta interferon does not exert any beneficial effect. This is probably due to an insufficient bioavailability of IFN-beta when given intramuscularly.
Villa
E
E
Chair of Gastroenterology, University of Modena, Italy.
Trande
P
P
Grottola
A
A
Buttafoco
P
P
Rebecchi
A M
AM
Stroffolini
T
T
Callea
F
F
Merighi
A
A
Camellini
L
L
Zoboli
P
P
Cosenza
R
R
Miglioli
L
L
Loria
P
P
Iori
R
R
Carulli
N
N
Manenti
F
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy* / Q000821:virology; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000032:analysis; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007370:Interferon Type I / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D011994:Recombinant Proteins
D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D007370:Interferon Type I; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016899:Interferon-beta