Thyroid dysfunction has been reported in patients with malignant disease treated with recombinant alpha interferon. Two cases of hypothyroidism in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with recombinant alpha interferon are reported. In one patient, interferon induced hypothyroidism in the absence of pre-existing thyroid dysfunction and in the other it aggravated a pre-existing thyroid dysfu...

INTRODUCTION Patients with Hepatitis C are commonly treated with combination of Pegylated Interferon alfa-2a and Ribavirin. Less than 1% of patients receiving this treatment experience very uncommon ophthalmological side effects such as optic neuropathy and vision disorder, which are usually subclinical, mild and reversible, not requiring the withdrawal of the treatment. Retinopathy is the most...

Systemic treatment modalities for eradication of multiple therapy resistant genital warts are so far not available. In this study laser treated patients with multiple genital warts received postoperatively either interferon alpha-2b subcutaneously (s.c.) 5 x 10(6) IU or matching placebo three times weekly for four weeks. At the conclusion of the study, 6-8 weeks after discontinuation of therapy...

BACKGROUND The efficacy of re-treating genotype I hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients who failed combination therapy with interferon/pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin remains unclear. AIMS To quantify sustained virological response (SVR) rates with different re-treatment regimens through meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). METHODS Randomized controlled trials of ge...

Background: A large-scale randomized trial of adjuvant interferon-a therapy for patients with osteosarcoma has been initiated as a joint protocol by the European and American Osteosarcoma Study Group. Because the expression of functional interferon-a/b receptor is necessary for interferon-a agents to interact with osteosarcoma cells, we examined the expression of interferon-a/b receptor in a se...

Drug-induced pericarditis is a well-described cardiac pathology that can result from a variety of medications; however, interferon-mediated pericarditis is extremely rare. We present a case of a young female with recurrent pericarditis due to interferon therapy. The role of interferon in adjuvant chemotherapy is well known and yields good effect, but this case highlights the very uncommon pheno...

Ophthalmologic complications with interferon therapy are rare and usually reversible. The anterior ischemic optic neuropathy is an uncommon complication of interferon treatment. A case of irreversible anterior ischemic optic neuropathy complicating interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis C is reported. We suggest that periodic ophthalmological examinations, including visual acuity and fundus e...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Alpha-interferon achieves seroconversion in about one third of naive patients. Attempts to achieve seroconversion in patients who have previously failed alpha-interferon have proved disappointing. Combination chemotherapy (alpha-interferon with a nucleoside analogue) might provide a treatment alternative for these patients. We have undertaken a phase 2 study in 20 patients who h...

HCV correlated hepatitis is a pathology on the increase, and it is especially affecting patients above 60 years old. The only treatment for this disease is therapy with different types of interferon. The authors take into examination three of their previous studies on treatment of HCV correlated chronic hepatitis in the elderly using different types of interferon: recombinant interferon alpha, ...

UNLABELLED  Introduction. Oxymatrine (OMTR) is widely used for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in China. Several recent reports revealed that OMTR together with interferon yielded a higher sustained virological response (SVR) than interferon alone. AIM To elucidate this topic using meta-analysis of data from published randomized controlled trials (RCTs). MATERIAL AND METHODS The ...