title: Natural interferon-beta plus ribavirin therapy led to sustained virological response after seven unsuccessful courses of anti-viral treatment in a chronic hepatitis C patient.
abstract: We describe a patient infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 who failed to respond to interferon with or without ribavirin seven times but who then achieved sustained virological response by the combination of interferon-beta plus ribavirin treatment for 48 weeks. He did not respond to stronger treatment such as prolonged peginterferon plus ribavirin treatment for 87 weeks. It might be rare to treat a patient with interferon 8 times considering the cost and time, since patients failing interferon treatment several times are regarded to be refractory to interferon. It is possible that the difference in biological effects between interferon-alfa and interferon-beta might have resulted in a different outcome in our patient. Interferon-beta plus ribavirin therapy might be one of the treatment options for certain patients chronically infected with HCV who do not respond to standard care treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8677, Japan. kandat-cib@umin.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8677, Japan.
authors.forename: Shingo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8677, Japan.
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8677, Japan.
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8677, Japan.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8677, Japan.
authors.forename: Keiichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8677, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yokosuka
keywords: HCV genotype 1; Hepatitis C; Interferon-beta; Neutralizing antibody; Ribavirin; Sustained virological response