title: Virological effects and safety of combined double filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP) and interferon therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C: A preliminary study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In patients with chronic genotype 1b hepatitis C and a high viral load, the viral load was reduced by double filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP), followed by combined interferon and ribavirin therapy. The safety and virological effects of this treatment method were preliminarily investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  In nine patients with chronic hepatitis C, DFPP was performed three times on days 1, 2, and 4, and the administration of interferon and ribavirin was initiated immediately after DFPP on day 1.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The HCV RNA was undetectable in all patients after the plasma was passed through a plasma fractionator (second filter) in the DFPP circuit. After 2 weeks, the HCV RNA tended to decrease in the DFPP group more than in the control group (-2.45+/-1.12 versus -1.57+/-0.95, P=0.073). However, this decrease was not attributable to a sustained virological response (SVR) (22.2% versus 18.2%, P=0.822). Most of the adverse events were caused by the interferon and ribavirin combination therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DFPP can be safely performed concomitantly with interferon and ribavirin combination therapy in chronic hepatitis C patients. The combination may contribute to an early virological response. The effect of DFPP on the SVR and its significance remain to be clarified.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, 13-1 Takara-Machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Kuniaki
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authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Akito
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: Eishiro
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mizukoshi
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kagaya
authors.forename: Yasunari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamoto
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Shuichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaneko