Efficacy and safety of combination therapy of natural human interferon beta and ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C patients with genotype 2 and high virus load.

摘要

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of combination therapy of natural human interferon-beta and ribavirin in patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 2 and high virus load. METHODS: Inclusion criteria were HCV-genotype 2, serum HCV RNA level of >or=100 KIU/mL before combination therapy. A total of 24 were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study. The treatment period of combination therapy was 24 weeks. RESULTS: Of the 24 study patients, no patient stopped the treatment due to treatment-related adverse events. The dose of drugs were reduced in 8 patients. Twenty-one of 24 patients (87.5%) had sustained virological response (SVR) by the intention to treat analysis. The rate of negative HCV RNA at 8 week after the initiation of treatment was 18/21 (86%) in patients with SVR and 1/3 (33%) in patients with non-SVR. Logistic regression analysis showed that SVR occurred when serum HCV RNA at 8 week after the initiation of combination therapy was negative (hazard ratio: 40.0; 95% confidence interval=1.75-914.78; p=0.021) CONCLUSION: The combination therapy of IFN-beta and ribavirin offers sufficient safety and efficacy in chronic hepatitis C patients with genotype 2 and high virus load.