title: Response to Pegylated Interferon Plus Ribavirin in Patients with Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 6a Infection from Guangdong and Guangxi Province of China.
abstract: Aim. Our aim is to survey the treatment effect of PEG-IFN plus ribavirin in patients infected with HCV genotype 6a in Guangdong and Guangxi province of China and investigate best course of antiviral treatment for patients with HCV-6a infection. Methods. 515 eligible patients received subcutaneous 180 μg PEG-IFNα-2a or 1.5 μg/kg PEG-IFNα-2b once weekly plus oral ribavirin. Primary outcome was SVR by intention-to-treat analysis. Secondary outcome was RVR, cEVR, ETR, and relapse rate. Results. SVR in patients with HCV-6a infection treated for 48 weeks was comparable to that in patients with HCV-2/3 infection (80.9% versus 82.5%, p = 0.812) and higher than that in patients with HCV-1b infection (80.9% versus 67.2%, p = 0.014). ETR (98.9% versus 90.6%, p = 0.016), virological response at month 3 of end-of- treatment (88.8% versus 76.6%, p = 0.044), SVR (80.9% versus 65.6%, p = 0.032), and virological response at month 12 of end-of-treatment (76.4% versus 60.9%, p = 0.04) in patients with HCV-6a infection treated for 48 weeks were higher than those in patients with HCV-6a infection treated for 24 weeks. Conclusion. SVR in patients with HCV-6a treated for 48 weeks was comparable to that in patients with HCV-2/3 infection and higher than that in patients with HCV-1b infection; patients with HCV-6a infection treated for 48 weeks had a superior treatment response than patients treated for 24 weeks.
authors.affiliation: Ruikang Hospital Affiliated to Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning 530000, China.
authors.forename: Wangxia
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
authors.forename: Jianyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Ruikang Hospital Affiliated to Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning 530000, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
authors.forename: Zhiying
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: Pingguo County People's Hospital, Guangxi 531400, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
authors.forename: Zhixin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
authors.forename: Xiaohong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
authors.forename: Zhiliang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, Affiliated Liuzhou Hospital of Guangxi Traditional Chinese Medicine University, Guangxi 545007, China.
authors.forename: Zhonghua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jiang