Efficacy and safety of combination therapy of natural human interferon beta and ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C patients with genotype 2 and high virus load.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of combination therapy of natural human interferon-beta and ribavirin in patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 2 and high virus load.


METHODS
Inclusion criteria were HCV-genotype 2, serum HCV RNA level of >or=100 KIU/mL before combination therapy. A total of 24 were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study. The treatment period of combination therapy was 24 weeks.


RESULTS
Of the 24 study patients, no patient stopped the treatment due to treatment-related adverse events. The dose of drugs were reduced in 8 patients. Twenty-one of 24 patients (87.5%) had sustained virological response (SVR) by the intention to treat analysis. The rate of negative HCV RNA at 8 week after the initiation of treatment was 18/21 (86%) in patients with SVR and 1/3 (33%) in patients with non-SVR. Logistic regression analysis showed that SVR occurred when serum HCV RNA at 8 week after the initiation of combination therapy was negative (hazard ratio: 40.0; 95% confidence interval=1.75-914.78; p=0.021)


CONCLUSIONS
The combination therapy of IFN-beta and ribavirin offers sufficient safety and efficacy in chronic hepatitis C patients with genotype 2 and high virus load.
Department of Hepatology, Toranomon Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. es9y-ars@asahi-net.or.jp
Yasuji
Y
Arase
Fumitaka
F
Suzuki
Norio
N
Akuta
Hitomi
H
Sezaki
Yoshiyuki
Y
Suzuki
Yusuke
Y
Kawamura
Masahiro
M
Kobayashi
Tetsuya
T
Hosaka
Hiromi
H
Yatsuji
Miharu
M
Hirakawa
Naoki
N
Matsumoto
Satoshi
S
Saito
Kenji
K
Ikeda
Mariko
M
Kobayashi
Hiromitsu
H
Kumada
D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019562:Viral Load / Q000235:genetics*
D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012254:Ribavirin; D016899:Interferon-beta