Hepatitis C treatment outcome in relation to alcohol consumption and racial differences in southeastern Taiwan.
OBJECTIVE
Alcohol use may have negative impacts on hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment due to low adherence, and racial differences can influence HCV sustained virological response (SVR) rate between East Asian and European ancestry. The objective of this study is to confirm the influence of alcohol consumption and racial differences on HCV treatment outcome in aboriginal and nonaboriginal people of southeastern Taiwan.


METHODS
In this retrospective cohort study, a total of 195 patients were treated with peginterferon-alpha once weekly plus ribavirin for 24 weeks. The efficacy analysis was performed based on the SVR rate for patients who received at least one dose of the study medication or who completed treatment. The endpoints were denoted by virological response rate including the influences of alcohol use, HCV genotype, serum level of HCV virological load, and racial differences.


RESULTS
No differences were observed in the baseline clinical characteristics between drinkers and nondrinkers, but a significant difference was noted in the body mass index between aboriginal and nonaboriginal populations (28.3 vs. 25.8; p < 0.01). With respect to the SVR rate, no difference was found between drinkers and nondrinkers, and between aboriginal and nonaboriginal people. The treatment efficacy of SVR in the whole group was significantly different between patients with HCV genotype 1 and nongenotype 1 (73.5% vs. 91.2%; p < 0.01). An analysis of the SVR rate in the aboriginal group showed no significant difference between patients with genotype 1 and nongenotype 1 (80.0% vs. 91.3%; p = 0.31).


CONCLUSIONS
In southeastern Taiwan, alcohol consumption did not influence the HCV treatment outcome, and the SVR rates were similar between patients with HCV genotype 1 and nongenotype 1 infections in the aboriginal group.
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine and Liver Medical Center, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Nursing, Mackay Junior College of Medicine, Nursing, and Management, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Medicine, Mackay Medical College, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Ching-Chung
CC
Lin
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taitung Branch, Taitung, Taiwan.
Chia-Hsien
CH
Wu
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taitung Branch, Taitung, Taiwan.
Huan-Lin
HL
Chen
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taitung Branch, Taitung, Taiwan.
I-Tsung
IT
Lin
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine and Liver Medical Center, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Nursing, Mackay Junior College of Medicine, Nursing, and Management, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Medicine, Mackay Medical College, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Ming-Jen
MJ
Chen
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine and Liver Medical Center, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Nursing, Mackay Junior College of Medicine, Nursing, and Management, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Medicine, Mackay Medical College, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Tsang-En
TE
Wang
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine and Liver Medical Center, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Nursing, Mackay Junior College of Medicine, Nursing, and Management, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Medicine, Mackay Medical College, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Horng-Yuan
HY
Wang
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine and Liver Medical Center, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Nursing, Mackay Junior College of Medicine, Nursing, and Management, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Medicine, Mackay Medical College, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Shou-Chuan
SC
Shih
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taitung Branch, Taitung, Taiwan; Department of Nursing, Meiho University, Pingtung, Taiwan; Department of Applied Science, National Taitung University, Taitung, Taiwan. Electronic address: a5963@ttms.mmh.org.tw.
Ming-Jong
MJ
Bair
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013624:Taiwan / Q000208:ethnology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019562:Viral Load
D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012254:Ribavirin
alcohol; genotype; hepatitis C; race