title: [Ursodeoxycholic acid in the therapy of chronic hepatitis after treatment with interferon].
abstract: Interferon alfa is to day the only therapy of proven benefit for the treatment and control of chronic hepatitis C. Therefore only 25% of patients receive from it a sustained biochemical and serological response; often when the treatment is stopped there is a flare up of ALT and reappearance of HCV-RNA in the serum. The most common schedule is 6 MU t.i w. for twelve months; after this there is no codified treatment for relapse prevention. The aim of this study was to evaluate if ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) administration after a cycle of IFN therapy was able to prevent relapse of the disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 36 patients whose mean age was 31.5 +/- 5.7 affected by chronic hepatitis C and treated with IFN alpha for one year. Only twenty of them received an end term therapy response and were therefore enrolled in a double blind study with two arms: Arm A treated with UDCA 300 mg b. i. d. for twelve months and Arm B treated with placebo. ALT value and HVC-RNA levels were evaluated at baseline, during and after treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients treated with UDCA showed a lower percentage of relapse in comparison with patients treated with placebo.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This effect was probably due to a double mechanism: the first of biochemical type because a reduction in the intrahepatic concentration of hydrophobic biliary acids, the second immunological due to a lower expression of HLA class I and II antigens.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Gerontologia, Geriatria e Malattie del Metabolismo, Seconda Università degli Studi, Napoli.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Porcaro
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sannino
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mastroianni
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ciavattone
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bartiromo
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nascia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014580:Ursodeoxycholic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D014580:Ursodeoxycholic Acid