title: Porphyria cutanea tarda as a Predictor of Poor Response to Interferon Alfa Therapy in Chronic Hepatitis C.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) is sometimes associated with hepatitis C virus chronic infection. The aim of this study was to describe the effect of interferon alfa (IFN-a) in the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C and PCT.
  
  
  METHODS
  We treated a total of 66 patients with chronic hepatitis C with IFN-a 2b (5 MU t.i.w.) for 12 months. Twenty-two of these patients suffered from PCT as well. These patients differed from patients without PCT in that they were men, past history of alcohol abuse and HFE gene mutations were more common and the source of infection was almost always unknown.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sustained virologie response was obtained in 19.7% of the 66 treated patients, 27.3% in the non-PCT group and 4.5% in the PCT group (P < 0.05). This difference could not be ascribed to the difference in sex of patients, history of alcohol abuse, HCV genotype or iron status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that PCT is independently and significantly associated with non-sustained response to IFNa therapy. In conclusion, patients with chronic hepatitis C and PCT rarely responded to IFNa treatment.
authors.affiliation: a Depts. of Gastroenterology, Unit for the Study of Porphyrias, Pathology and Clinical Epidemiology , Hospital Universitario '12 de Octubre' , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.affiliation: a Depts. of Gastroenterology, Unit for the Study of Porphyrias, Pathology and Clinical Epidemiology , Hospital Universitario '12 de Octubre' , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Castellano
authors.affiliation: a Depts. of Gastroenterology, Unit for the Study of Porphyrias, Pathology and Clinical Epidemiology , Hospital Universitario '12 de Octubre' , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: de Salamanca
authors.affiliation: a Depts. of Gastroenterology, Unit for the Study of Porphyrias, Pathology and Clinical Epidemiology , Hospital Universitario '12 de Octubre' , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Colina
authors.affiliation: a Depts. of Gastroenterology, Unit for the Study of Porphyrias, Pathology and Clinical Epidemiology , Hospital Universitario '12 de Octubre' , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: A Gómez
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: de la Cámara
authors.affiliation: a Depts. of Gastroenterology, Unit for the Study of Porphyrias, Pathology and Clinical Epidemiology , Hospital Universitario '12 de Octubre' , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Morán
authors.affiliation: a Depts. of Gastroenterology, Unit for the Study of Porphyrias, Pathology and Clinical Epidemiology , Hospital Universitario '12 de Octubre' , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.affiliation: a Depts. of Gastroenterology, Unit for the Study of Porphyrias, Pathology and Clinical Epidemiology , Hospital Universitario '12 de Octubre' , Madrid , Spain.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Solís-Herruzo
keywords: Chronic hepatitis; HFE gene mutations; iron status