title: Dynamics of hepatitis C virus monitored by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction during first 2 weeks of IFN-beta treatment are predictive of long-term therapeutic response.
abstract: The relation between the change in hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA levels at the start of interferon-beta (IFN-beta) treatment and the long-term therapeutic response remains poorly defined. In 20 patients with chronic hepatitis C who received IFN-beta (total dose 126-756 MU), the changes in serum HCV RNA during the first 2 weeks of therapy were monitored by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The serum HCV RNA level decreased rapidly during the first 24 h of therapy (first phase) and more slowly thereafter (second phase), with a mean exponential decay rate of 1.17 log10/day and 0.37 log10/day, respectively. Three patients had a sustained virologic response, 10 patients had a transient response, and 7 patients had no response. The differences in the rate of first-phase viral decline among the three groups were not significant (p = 0.21), but the differences in the rate of second-phase viral decline were significant (p = 0.0021). The mean decay rate between the end of the first 24 h and day 14 was 0.96 +/- 0.43 log10/day in sustained responders, 0.39 +/- 0.30 log10/day in transient responders, and 0.13 +/- 0.09 log10/day in nonresponders. We conclude that during the first 2 weeks of therapy, changes in serum HCV RNA levels as monitored by real-time quantitative PCR can be used to predict the long-term response to treatment with IFN-beta.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University, Osaka 545-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Enomoto
authors.forename: Shuhei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishiguchi
authors.forename: Motoharu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Katsuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tamori
authors.forename: Daiki
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Habu
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shiomi
authors.forename: Yoshihisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: Shuzo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Otani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007700:Kinetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D012367:RNA, Viral; D016899:Interferon-beta