Efficacy and Safety of a Novel Pegylated Interferon Alpha-2a in Egyptian Patients with Genotype 4 Chronic Hepatitis C

Author:

Taha Alaa Awad1,El-Ray Ahmad1,El-Ghannam Maged1,Mounir Bahaa2

Affiliation:

1. Department of Hepatogastroenterology, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Egypt

2. Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 4 is a common infection in Egypt and is the leading cause of liver disease.OBJECTIVE: To study the efficacy and safety of a novel 20 kD pegylated interferon alpha-2a derived fromHansenula polymorphain combination with ribavirin for the treatment of Egyptian patients with genotype 4 chronic hepatitis C (CHC).METHODS: One hundred seven patients with genotype 4 CHC were involved in the present study. Liver biopsy was performed in all patients. All patients received a fixed weekly dose of 160 μg of a novel pegylated interferon in combination with ribavirin in standard and adjusted doses. Serum HCV RNA levels were assessed by a real-time sensitive polymerase chain reaction assay at four, 12, 48 and 72 weeks after the start of therapy. Patients demonstrating an early virological response (EVR) completed a 48-week course of treatment.RESULTS: The overall sustained virological response (SVR) was 60.7%. The SVR in patients with a rapid virological response was significantly higher (91.7%) than in patients with complete EVR (67.74%) (P=0.033) and partial EVR (56.14%) (P=0.003). SVR was also significantly higher in patients with a low degree of liver fibrosis according to Metavir score (F1 and F2) (67.57%) compared with those with a high degree of liver fibrosis (F3 and F4) (45.45%) (P=0.017). The baseline viral load had no impact on SVR in the present series nor were any serious adverse events reported.CONCLUSION: The novel pegylated interferon alpha-2a assessed in the present study was effective for the treatment of patients with genotype 4 CHC, and was safe and well tolerated.

Publisher

Hindawi Limited

Subject

Gastroenterology,General Medicine

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3