title: [Efficacy of low-dose interferon therapy for treating chronic hepatitis C patients who cannot tolerate standard treatment].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the therapeutic efficacy of interferon (IFN) therapy and risk of long-term administration for chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients who cannot tolerate the standard treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-six CHC patients who had proven intolerant to standard treatments were treated with low-dose IFN (non-pegylated IFN: 60 to 300MIU QOD, or pegylated IFN: 50 to 90 mug/w) plus ribavirin (RBV; 0.6g to 0.9 g/d) for 72 weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-three (93.5%) of the patients were able to tolerate the long-term treatment with low-dose IFN plus RBV. Only three patients experienced severe side effects (low white blood cell and platelet counts) that required treatment withdrawal. The virology response rates over treatment time were: rapid virologic response (RVR): 10.9%; early virus response (EVR): 30.4%; 24 week virologic response: 45.7%; and, 48 week virologic response: 47.8%. B-sonographic imaging revealed that three patients experienced improved liver morphology through the treatment course. The patients who achieved RVR, EVR, or 24 weeks virologic response also attained higher 48 week virologic response. The 24 week virologic response had the strongest predictive value of good prognosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study demonstrated that long-term treatment with low-dose interferon plus ribavirin is effective for patients who are otherwise intolerant to standard treatment. In these patients, low-dose IFN plus RBV can obtain a high virologic response rate at 48 week. Furthermore, the 24 week virologic response is sufficiently predictive of treatment success. As with any treatment regimen, it is important for healthcare workers to monitor the disease status and potential side effects throughout the course of therapy.
authors.affiliation: Beijing YouAn Hospital, China.
authors.forename: Zhen-huan
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Ya-li
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yan-hong
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Shu-dan
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Jun-li
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jian-hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Cun-yuan
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xin-yue
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D007372:Interferons