title: Early response to interferon alpha treatment and long-term clinical outcome in Japanese patients with chronic HBV genotype C infection.
abstract: Genotype C of hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been shown to be associated with a poor clinical outcome and less favorable response to interferon (IFN) alpha therapy compared to genotype B. We evaluated the response to IFN alpha therapy and long-term clinical outcome in Japanese patients with chronic active HBV genotype C infection. Thirty Japanese patients with chronic active hepatitis who received natural IFN alpha therapy were followed for 2-12 years (mean 5.9 years). Twenty-four patients were treated short-term (daily for 4 weeks at a mean total dosage of 174 million units) and 6 patients were treated long-term (total of 26 weeks at a mean total dosage of 687 million units). Twelve of 30 (40%) patients had an antiviral response at 6 months after therapy. Clinical data before treatment in both responders and non-responders were comparable. Although not significant, responders tended to have younger age, a higher serum transaminase level, a lower frequency of precore mutation (G1896A) (67% vs. 92%) and a higher frequency of core promoter mutation (A1762T/G1764A) (89% vs. 58%) than non-responders. The patients treated long-term responded significantly better than those treated short-term (83% vs. 29%, P=0.026). Up to 12 years after therapy, a higher percentage of responders than non-responders had sustained clearance of HBeAg with seroconversion and normalization of transaminase concentration at the followed end point (83% vs. 17%, P<0.001). Two non-responder patients had cirrhosis after long-term follow-up. One non-responder patient died of hepatocellular carcinoma 8 years after IFN therapy; except in this patient there was no development of decompensated cirrhosis. Early responsiveness to IFN alpha therapy in Japanese patients with chronic active HBV genotype C infection improves the long-term clinical outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Molecular Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan. yseo@ med.kobe-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Seitetsu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hamano
authors.forename: Miyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakaji
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: Megumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ninomiya
authors.forename: Yoshitake
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kasuga
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha