Response of Black African patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 4 to treatment with peg-interferon and ribavirin

摘要

Aim : To compare responses to therapy of Black African (BA)and non-Black African (non- BA) patients with hepatitis C virusgenotype 4 (HCV-4) residing in Belgium.Methods : In this retrospective multicenter study, 473 patientswith HCV-4 were selected from databases at 7 Belgian centers ;209 treatment-naïve patients (154 BA) had received treatment withpeg-interferon (peg-IFN) plus ribavirin (RBV) and were includedin the study.Results : There was a greater percentage of female patients in theBA group than in the non- BA group ; BA patients were also older,had a greater body mass index, and more frequently had abnormalglucose metabolism. The route of contamination was more frequentlyunknown in BA than in non-BA patients and BA patientshad more HCV-4 subtypes. There were no differences in other demographicfactors between the groups. Sustained viral response(SVR) and complete early viral response rates were significantlylower and relapse rates significantly higher in BA than in non-BApatients. There were no differences between groups in rates of dosemodification or in drug tolerance.Conclusion : In our cohort, treatment-naïve BA patients withHCV-4 who were treated with peg-IFN and ribavirin had a muchlower SVR rate than treatment-naïve non-BA patients with HCV-4 who were treated with peg-IFN and ribavirin, and a higherrelapserate, possibly related to a weaker response to interferonbasedtherapy. Treatment may need to be adapted in this population.