title: Anti-viral actions and viral dynamics in the early phase of three different regimens of interferon treatment for chronic hepatitis C: differences between the twice-daily administration of interferon-beta treatment and the combination therapy with interferon-alpha plus ribavirin.
abstract: To improve the efficacy of interferon (IFN) treatment for chronic hepatitis C, we have proposed the twice-daily administration of IFN-beta as a promising induction therapy. In this study, we demonstrated differences between the clearance of circulating HCV-RNA and the induction of anti-viral actions during the first 2 weeks of treatment. Nine patients with a high viral load and genotype 1b were randomly assigned to 3 groups: group A received 3MU of IFN-beta twice a day at intervals of 5 and 19 h; group B received 3MU of IFN-beta twice a day at intervals of 10 and 14 h; group C received 6MU of IFN-alpha once a day with ribavirin. The expression of OAS2, PKR, and MxA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction method. The viral clearance showed a bi-phasic pattern, and those in the second phase of groups A and B were significantly steeper than that of group C. The peak level of OAS2 during the first phase was correlated with the first phase decay. The MxA expression tended to be higher in group A and B than in group C. The expression of these 3 proteins tended to decrease at day 6 in group C, but increase in groups A and B. These might make differences in the viral decay during the second phase
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Medical Science, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry, Okayama 700-8558, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shimomura
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
authors.forename: Fusao
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Fumi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Umeoka
authors.forename: Piao
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chengyu
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohnishi
authors.forename: Shin-jirou
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.forename: Shin-ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fujioka
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shiratori
mesh_terms: D015088:2',5'-Oligoadenylate Synthetase / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D015870:Gene Expression; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D007700:Kinetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009000:Monocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D064547:Myxovirus Resistance Proteins; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013997:Time Factors; D019892:eIF-2 Kinase / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha; C579071:MX1 protein, human; D064547:Myxovirus Resistance Proteins; D012367:RNA, Viral; D012254:Ribavirin; D016899:Interferon-beta; D019892:eIF-2 Kinase; D015088:2',5'-Oligoadenylate Synthetase; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins