title: Effect of interferon-alpha on cognitive functioning in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
abstract: Treatment with interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) has been shown to adversely affect cognitive functioning in patients with a variety of medical disorders, but information about the effects of IFN-alpha on cognitive functioning in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is limited. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of IFN-alpha on neuropsychological test performance in CHC patients. Participants were 30 patients with CHC, 11 who underwent IFN-alpha therapy and 19 who did not. All participants were tested at baseline (i.e., pretreatment) and approximately 6 months later with the Symbol Digit Modalities Test and Trail Making Test. Results revealed that the treatment group performed significantly worse than untreated CHC patients on Part B of the Trail Making Test after approximately 6 months of treatment. No significant group differences were found on Part A of the Trail Making Test or Symbol Digit Modalities Test. Findings suggest that CHC patients undergoing treatment with IFN-alpha may experience reduced abilities to benefit from practice but suffer no decrements in performance after 6 months of treatment. Additional research is needed to replicate these findings and to explore risk factors for susceptibility to IFN-alpha-induced effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry & Behavioral Science, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas, USA. Robin.Hilsabeck@med.va.gov
authors.forename: Robin C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Hilsabeck
authors.forename: Tarek I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Hassanein
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Ziegler
authors.forename: Meghan D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Perry
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D007155:Immunologic Factors; D016898:Interferon-alpha