title: Effects of 1-year interferon-alpha 2a treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C and persistently normal transaminase activity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Certain chronic hepatitis C carriers have persistently normal transaminase activity. The aims of this study were to determine the virologic and histologic effects of 1 year of interferon-alpha treatment in such patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-one patients were followed up in our Liver Unit. Eleven accepted interferon-alpha therapy; the 20 others were not treated and served as controls. Interferon-alpha, 3 MU, was given thrice weekly for 1 year. Serum was examined for hepatitis C virus (HCV)-RNA before, at the end of, and 6 months after treatment. Liver biopsy was performed 6 months after the cessation of treatment in 10 of 11 treated patients (one refused biopsy) and after a mean of 30.6+/-22.7 months in the 20 untreated patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the end of follow-up two of the treated patients had undetectable serum HCV-RNA and five had increased alanine aminotransferase (ALAT) values. In contrast, only one of the untreated patients had abnormal ALAT activity. All 20 untreated patients were constantly viremic. No significant histologic improvement was observed in the treated patients evaluated by means of post-treatment liver biopsy. The mean annual progression rate of fibrosis was very slow and similar in the treated and untreated patients (0.09 (range, 0-0.62) versus 0.07 (range, 0-0.60) fibrosis units).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  One year of interferon-alpha treatment can suppress HCV-RNA in patients with chronic hepatitis C and persistently normal ALAT values followed up over long periods. The rate of fibrosis progression in such patients is very slow, and therapeutic strategies should take this fact into account. Antiviral treatment is debated for patients without fibrosis in initial biopsy specimens.
authors.affiliation: Liver Unit and Dept. of Immunology, Archet Hospital 2, Nice, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tran
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Longo
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ouzan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pradier
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Saint-Paul
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sattonnet
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Laffont
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dantin
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Piche
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Benzaken
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rampal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood*; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001706:Biopsy; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D000410:Alanine Transaminase