title: Combined alpha-interferon and ribavirin treatment in chronic hepatitis C: a pilot study.
abstract: 16 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection were treated with a combination of interferon-alpha and ribavirin for 24 weeks in an open study. One patient declined further treatment due to depression after week 16 and did not complete further follow-up. A moderate decline was observed in hemoglobin and an increase in bilirubin level both reversible after discontinuing the treatment. 24 weeks after treatment cessation 9/15 (60%) evaluable patients had complete clearance of HCV-RNA as measured with PCR. HCV genotype did not seem to be correlated with response, but patients with sustained response to treatment had a significantly reduced number of HCV RNA copies/ml serum at treatment start compared with the other patients. These findings support the promising results of this combination therapy noted in other pilot studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Lund University Hospital, Sweden.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Braconier
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Paulsen
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Engman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Widell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000032:analysis; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001483:Base Sequence; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral; D012254:Ribavirin; D000410:Alanine Transaminase