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Long‐term follow‐up of patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with different doses of interferon‐α 2b
Author(s) -
Saracco Giorgio,
Rosina Floriano,
Abate Maria Lorena,
Chiandussi Livio,
Gallo Vittorio,
Cerutti Elena,
Napoli Angelo Di,
Solinas Antonio,
Deplano Angelo,
Tocco Andreina,
Cossu Pierangela,
Chien David,
Kuo George,
Polito Alan,
Weiner Amy J.,
Houghton Michael,
Verme Giorgio,
Bonino Ferruccio,
Rizzetto Mario
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.488
H-Index - 361
eISSN - 1527-3350
pISSN - 0270-9139
DOI - 10.1002/hep.1840180603
Subject(s) - medicine , discontinuation , gastroenterology , hepatology , cirrhosis , interferon alfa , liver biopsy , viremia , hepatitis c virus , interferon , hepatitis , antibody , biopsy , immunology , virus , alpha interferon
Eighty patients with chronic hepatitis C who completed a previously reported randomized controlled trial on the efficacy of interferon‐α 2b were followed up for at least 36 mo after therapy discontinuation. Seventeen patients (21.2%) maintained normal ALT values throughout the follow‐up; 63 (78.8%) either did not normalize the levels of ALT or relapsed during the follow‐up. A significantly greater proportion of patients treated with 3 million units of interferon three times a week subcutaneously for 48 wk were long‐term responders compared with patients treated for 24 wk. Sex, age, hepatitis C virus antibody status, source of infection and pretreatment levels of ALT were not predictive of long‐term response. Cirrhosis was found to be an unfavorable predictive factor. After 3 yr of follow‐up, clearance of viremia was observed in 58.9% of the 17 long‐term responders but in none of the nonresponders (p = 0.002). E2‐NS1 antibody tested negative in 88.2% of long‐term responders and in 14.3% of nonresponders (p = 0.001). Fifty‐nine percent of long‐term responders tested negative for C100‐NS4 antibody compared with 14.3% of nonresponders (p = 0.031). No significant change was observed in other antibodies. Four long‐term responders underwent liver biopsy 2 yr after discontinuation of therapy. All four patients had normal liver histology compared with baseline assessment of chronic active hepatitis in three and chronic persistent hepatitis in the other. Three of the four were negative for serum hepatitis C virus RNA. (HEPATOLOGY 1993; 18:1300–1305.)