title: Peginterferon/ribavirin treatment achieves a higher  compliance rate than interferon/ribavirin combination  in patients chronically infected with HCV on methadone  maintenance.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) is the most common infectious disease among intravenous drug users.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine and compare compliance rates between two groups of chronic HCV patients from the methadone substitution program of the National Greek Organization Against Drugs treated with either pegylated interferon alpha-2b/ribavirin or with interferon alpha-2b/ribavirin during 48 weeks of therapy and 24 weeks of follow-up. Furthermore, to evaluate the efficacy of each treatment modality.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-five consecutive methadone maintenance (MM) patients (group A, 36 males, nine females) were treated with pegylated interferon alpha-2b (weight-based dosing 1.5 microg/kg/week) and ribavirin 1000-1200 mg/day orally. Sixty-five consecutive MM patients (group B, 52 males, 13 females) were treated with interferon alpha-2b (6 MIU, three times/week) and ribavirin with the doses reported above. During the study, all patients were followed up periodically by hepatologists, internists, and psychiatrists.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Baseline characteristics were similar between the two groups. Thirty-four out of 45 patients (75.6%) from group A and 31 of 65 patients (47.7%) from group B completed therapy (P =0.006). Thirty-two (71.1%) patients from group A and 27 patients (41.5%) from group B were followed-up until the end of week 72 (P = 0.004). At the end of the follow-up, sustained virologic response was achieved in 23 of 45 (51.1%) patients from group A and 21 of 65 patients (32.3%) from group B (P =0.075).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pegylated interferon alpha-2b/ribavirin treatment achieved a significantly higher compliance rate than interferon alpha-2b/ribavirin in MM patients with chronic HCV infection. After 24 weeks of follow-up, response rates were similar for patients who were compliant to treatment for both groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Agios Savvas Hospital, Athens, Greece. dimdim@otenet.gr
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dimitroulopoulos
authors.forename: Elefteria
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petroulaki
authors.forename: Spilios
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Manolakopoulos
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Anagnostou
authors.forename: Domna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tsaklakidou
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xinopoulos
authors.forename: Klisthenis
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsamakidis
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tzourmakliotis
authors.forename: Emmanouel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Paraskevas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008691:Methadone; D058850:Opiate Substitution Treatment; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications / Q000534:rehabilitation; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D000998:Antiviral Agents; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D012254:Ribavirin; C417083:peginterferon alfa-2b; D008691:Methadone