Comment on a systematic review of randomized trials of peginterferon alpha-2a versus peginterferon alpha-2b in chronic hepatitis C.

摘要

We read with interest the letter by Kershenobich et al. in Hepatology regarding the meta-analysis of randomized trials comparing pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) alpha-2a and alpha-2b in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) by Awad et al. We agree regarding the importance of a uniform study population in treatment-naive patients with CHC. This is especially true for the study by Laguno et al., which included patients coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We performed a meta-analysis of four available studies comparing PEG-IFN alpha-2a and peginterferon alpha-2b in the treatment of patients with CHC who have concomitant HIV coinfec-tion: one randomized, one prospective-retrospective, and two prospective studies ' with one of them reported as an abstract. A total of 1009 patients (581 treated with PEG-IFN alpha-2a; sample size, 63-557; mean age, 41 years; 69%-75% males) were treated in the four studies.