The importance of initial daily administration of interferon alpha for the eradication of hepatitis C virus in patients with chronic hepatitis C: a multicenter randomized trial.
OBJECTIVE
We studied the effect of initial daily administration of interferon for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, to clarify a more effective treatment protocol for the eradication of the hepatitis C virus.


METHODS
Consecutive patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomly enrolled in two groups in this study. One hundred and five patients were randomized and assigned to two groups. Patients, who enrolled in group A, were treated with 6 million units of natural interferon-alpha given subcutaneously daily for an initial two weeks and then thrice a week for 22 weeks. Patients, who were enrolled in group B, were treated with the same dose of interferon-alpha given for 26 weeks thrice a week from the first administration.


RESULTS
In groups A and B, 58 and 47 patients were analyzed, respectively. At the end of treatment, 37 patients in group A (63.8%) had negative serum HCV-RNA test, compared with 26 in group B (55.3%), but at 6 months after discontinuation of interferon administration, 27 patients in group A (46.6%), compared with 8 in group B (21.3%). The rate of complete remission in group A (46.6%) was higher than that in group B (21.3%) (P<0.01). In patients with genotype 1b virus, the rate of complete remission was higher in group A (31.3%) than in group B (12.5%) (not significantly), and the relapse rate was lower in group A (9.4%) than in group B (37.5%), significantly (p<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that initial daily interferon administration is necessary to gain a higher rate of serum HCV-RNA eradication in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
Osaka University Medical School, Department of Medicine III, Suita City, Japan.
H
H
Nakamura
H
H
Ito
Y
Y
Kimura
A
A
Takeda
H
H
Ogawa
S
S
Kanazawa
T
T
Kuroda
M
M
Inada
H
H
Harada
T
T
Kishimoto
S
S
Zenda
M
M
Terabayashi
K
K
Saeki
M
M
Wada
A
A
Igarashi
M
M
Uemiya
Y
Y
Kobayashi
E
E
Hayashi
D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D004279:DNA, Viral; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D000410:Alanine Transaminase