title: Efficacy of interferon-alpha in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C in dialysis patients: two therapeutic protocols compared.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Data on the efficacy of particular therapeutic protocols of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) treatment for chronic hepatitis C in patients on hemodialysis (HD) vary.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare the efficacy of two different therapeutic protocols for HD patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  15 hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive patients on chronic HD at two dialysis centers: 8 patients treated with IFN-alpha 3 x 3 MU/week s.c. for 6 months (group A), and 7 patients treated with IFN-alpha 3 x 5 MU/week for 3 months, then 1 x 5 MU/week for another 3 months (group B). End of treatment response (ETR) and sustained virologic response (SVR) were evaluated by HCV-RNA determination. There was no statistically significant difference between the two patient groups according to age, sex, duration of HD and HCV infection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ETR was 87.5% (7/8) in group A and 28.5% (2/7) in group B, being statistically significant (p < 0.05). Although better SVR [50% (4/8) vs. 28.5% (2/7)] and lower drop-out rate [0% (0/8) vs. 28.5% (2/7)] were achieved in group A compared to group B, these differences did not reach statistical significance (p > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Therapy with IFN-alpha 3 x 3 MU/week s.c. for 6 months seems to be more appropriate for treatment of hepatitis C in HD patients, mostly due to better tolerability, i.e. lower drop-out rate. These differences could be attributed to different pharmacokinetic properties of the particular therapy protocol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Dubrava University Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia. ivica.grgurevic@zg.htnet.hr
authors.forename: Ivica
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Grgurević
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vince
authors.forename: Mladen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buljevac
authors.forename: Marko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Banić
authors.forename: Branka
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jeren-Strujić
authors.forename: Petar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kes
authors.forename: Milan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kujundzić
authors.forename: Ninoslav
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Leko
authors.forename: Ivan Kresimir
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Lukić
authors.forename: Jasna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Slavicek
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D005260:Female; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha