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Efficacy and safety of combination therapy of natural human interferon beta and ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C patients.
- Source :
-
Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) [Intern Med] 2011; Vol. 50 (19), pp. 2083-8. Date of Electronic Publication: 2011 Oct 01. - Publication Year :
- 2011
-
Abstract
- Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of combination therapy of natural human interferon-beta and ribavirin for patients for whom prior interferon therapy was discontinued due to depression induced by interferon-alpha.<br />Methods: Inclusion criteria were as follows; 1) HCV-genotype 1b, 2) serum HCV RNA level of ≥100 KIU/mL, 3) stopping the prior interferon-alpha monotherapy or combination therapy of interferon-alpha and ribavirin due to the appearance of depression. A total of 14 were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. The treatment period of combination therapy was 48 weeks. Depression states, reflected by Beck depression inventories and Hamilton depression rating scale, were assessed during combination therapy. Nonparametric procedures were employed for the analysis of background features of the patients with sustained virological response (SVR) and without SVR. A p value of <0.05 was considered to indicate a significant difference.<br />Results: Five of 14 patients (37.5%) had SVR by the intention to treat analysis. The SVR rate in patients who showed negative HCV RNA at 12 and 24 weeks after the initiation of combination therapy was 100% (4/4) and 83.3% (5/6), respectively. All of the patients continued the combination therapy owing to disappearance of severely adverse events contained the exacerbation of depression. Combination therapy did not yield a statistical difference in Beck depression inventories and Hamilton depression rating scale.<br />Conclusion: The combination therapy of IFN-beta and ribavirin is a possible therapy selection for the patients for whom interferon therapy was discontinued due to depression induced by interferon-alpha.
- Subjects :
- Aged
Antiviral Agents adverse effects
Cohort Studies
Depression etiology
Drug Therapy, Combination
Female
Hepacivirus genetics
Hepatitis C, Chronic virology
Humans
Interferon-alpha administration & dosage
Interferon-alpha adverse effects
Male
Middle Aged
Prospective Studies
RNA, Viral blood
RNA, Viral genetics
Treatment Outcome
Antiviral Agents administration & dosage
Hepatitis C, Chronic drug therapy
Interferon-beta administration & dosage
Ribavirin administration & dosage
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1349-7235
- Volume :
- 50
- Issue :
- 19
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan)
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 21963723
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.2169/internalmedicine.50.5767