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Treatment of Relapses in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C With Recombinant α-Interferon

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Summary

Fifty-six patients with chronic hepatitis C who responded to 6 months’ treatment with recombinant α-interferon (rIFNα), 3MU 3 times weekly, were randomly enrolled into 2 groups (A and B) and followed up for 38 months in the following manner: patients in group A, who again had increases in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, received a second 6-month course of the same type and dose of interferon (IFN); patients who showed a further relapse in the next 12 months were immediately submitted to a third 6-month course with the same IFN and followed up to the sixth month after IFN withdrawal. Patients in group B did not receive any treatment after the first course, and were used as the control group. Patients with other potential causes of chronic liver disease, with histological diagnosis of cirrhosis or with abnormal ALT levels were excluded. Liver function tests were performed every 2 months. Serum HCV-RNA was determined every 12 months when the patients continued to show normal ALT levels, and it was evaluated before and after IFN retreatment if ALT levels again increased. There were 5 dropouts (8.9%). 41.1% of the patients did not show relapses. At the end of the study, 7 (43.7%) of the 16 patients, who were retreated because of relapse, again showed abnormal ALT values, while in the control group there were 14 (58.3%) relapses. This difference was not statistically significant. A complete response, exclusively defined by a normalisation of aminotransferase levels with disappearance of serum HCV-RNA, was only achieved in the patients with undetectable HCV-RNA at the beginning of the study: in fact HCV-RNA, if present in serum after the first IFN course, did not disappear after the following cycles. We concluded that the retreatment of relapses with rIFNα was of little benefit, even if it could lead to a complete response in some patients with undetectable serum HCV-RNA after the first IFN course.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterology, Pisa Hospital, Via Alessandro della Spina 11, 56125, Pisa, Italy

    Giampaolo Bresci, G. Parisi, S. Bariti, M. Bertoni & A. Capria

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  1. Giampaolo Bresci
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  2. G. Parisi
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  3. S. Bariti
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  4. M. Bertoni
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  5. A. Capria
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Bresci, G., Parisi, G., Bariti, S. et al. Treatment of Relapses in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C With Recombinant α-Interferon. Clin. Drug Invest. 10, 215–220 (1995). https://doi.org/10.2165/00044011-199510040-00004

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/00044011-199510040-00004

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