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A short course of pegylated interferon‐ α in acute HCV hepatitis
Author(s) -
Calleri G.,
Cariti G.,
Gaiottino F.,
De Rosa F. G.,
Bargiacchi O.,
Audagnotto S.,
Quaglia S.,
De Blasi T.,
Romano P.,
Traverso A.,
Leo G.,
Carbone R.,
Del Mastro B.,
Tinelli M.,
Caramello P.,
Di Perri G.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of viral hepatitis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1365-2893
pISSN - 1352-0504
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2893.2006.00802.x
Subject(s) - medicine , pegylated interferon , gastroenterology , ribavirin , jaundice , hepatitis c , hepatitis c virus , interferon , immunology , virus
Summary. Acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection evolves to chronicity in 50–84% cases. Treatment with interferon‐ α (IFN‐ α ) was repeatedly found to provide sustained cure rates higher than that in chronic HCV infection, but the optimal treatment strategy has not yet been defined. In a multicentre open‐label study, we investigated the therapeutic performance of a short course of pegylated (peg) IFN‐ α in patients with acute HCV hepatitis. Peg IFN‐ α 2b, 1.0–1.5 μ g/kg weekly, was administered for 12 weeks. Forty‐six patients were enrolled; 26 of them were intravenous drug users. Eleven patients had jaundice. Treatment was started within 1–90 days from the peak alanine aminotransferase. Treatment was well tolerated with a single dropout (2%). Thirty‐three of 46 patients (72%) had a sustained virological response (SVR) after a 6 months post‐treatment follow‐up, 8 (17%) relapsed after treatment and 4 were nonresponders (9%). A lower peak viraemia, receiving at least 1.2 μ g/kg of peg IFN‐ α , and a negative HCV‐RNA at week 4 and week 12 were predictors of SVR. Thus, in patients with early (week 4) viral response, a short course of peg IFN‐ α at a weekly dose >1.2 μ g/kg, may be a valuable option for the treatment of acute HCV hepatitis.