title: Interferon-alpha plus ribavirin combination therapy for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C in interferon non-responders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Only a small fraction of patients with chronic hepatitis C have a sustained biochemical or virologic response to a standard course of alpha-interferon therapy. Thus, alternative treatments are needed particularly for non-responders. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of alpha-interferon in combination with ribavirin in patients who had not responded to a previous course of alpha-interferon.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this prospective open trial, 26 patients who had not responded to a previous course of interferon monotherapy, were treated for 6 months with a combination of alpha-interferon 2b, 5 MU thrice weekly, plus ribavirin 1000 or 1200 mg daily. They were followed-up for at least 6 months after therapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the end of treatment, 3 patients (12%) had normal aminotransferase levels and two (8%) tested negative for HCV-RNA in serum. After 6 months of follow-up, all patients had HCV viremia and only one (3.8%) was still in biochemical remission. One patient dropped out because of side effects and another was lost during follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  alpha-interferon-ribavirin combination is ineffective in treating patients who had had no response to interferon monotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Kuwait University, PO Box 24923, Safat, Kuwait.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hasan
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Asker
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: al Shamali
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: al Kalaoui
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: al Nakib
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017211:Treatment Failure; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012254:Ribavirin