Premium
Early virologic response after peginterferon alpha‐2a plus ribavirin or peginterferon alpha‐2b plus ribavirin treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C *
Author(s) -
Di Bisceglie A. M.,
Ghalib R. H.,
Hamzeh F. M.,
Rustgi V. K.
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.1365-2893.2007.00862.x
Subject(s) - ribavirin , medicine , alpha (finance) , virology , alpha interferon , chronic hepatitis , hepatitis c , gastroenterology , interferon , virus , surgery , construct validity , patient satisfaction
Patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 and with serum HCV RNA concentrations over 800 000 IU/mL have relatively low rates of virologic response to pegylated interferons. The 2 forms of pegylated interferon have different pharmacokinetic profiles, and pilot studies comparing them have yielded varying results. We compared the virologic response to 12 weeks of treatment with peginterferon alpha‐2a plus ribavirin vs peginterferon alpha‐2b plus ribavirin in 380 patients who were infected with HCV genotype 1 and had high viral loads. We observed no between‐group differences in viral load reduction over time and no differences in the percentage of patients treated with peginterferon alpha‐2a or peginterferon alpha‐2b plus ribavirin who achieved early virologic response (EVR), defined as ≥2‐log reduction in HCV RNA concentration or undetectable HCV RNA at 12 weeks (66% vs 63%). Serum levels of interferon were more frequently below the level of quantitation in patients treated with peginterferon alpha‐2b plus ribavirin (58–68%) than in those treated with peginterferon alpha‐2a plus ribavirin (1–2%). Patients treated with peginterferon alpha‐2b plus ribavirin had higher rates of discontinuation for safety reasons (6% vs 1%). In conclusion, a substantial percentage of patients infected with HCV genotype 1 and high viral load can achieve EVR when treated with peginterferon and ribavirin. The 2 pegylated interferons showed comparable anti‐HCV activity during the first 12 weeks of treatment when combined with the same doses of ribavirin (1000–1200 mg/day), but discontinuations for safety reasons were higher in the patients treated with peginterferon alpha‐2b plus ribavirin.