Multicenter randomized trials have shown that once-weekly pegylated interferon (peginterferon) alfa-2a is more efficacious than conventional interferon alfa-2a (IFN) in patients with chronic hepatitis C. We performed a meta-analysis of 1,013 previously untreated patients (from 3 randomized trials) with pretreatment and post-treatment liver biopsies to assess the differences between peginterfero...

conclusions compared with monotherapy, adding ribavirin to treatment is more effective in removing hepatitis c virus from the bloodstream in patients with thalassemia, it is also more effective in reducing the relapse rate after treatment. except the increase in blood transfusion, there was no significant increase in side effects followed by adding ribavirin. results three randomized clinical t...

Background: Treatment with interferon-alfa has been shown to be effective in one-third of hepatitis B e antigen-positive chronic hepatitis B patients, but is clinically associated with relevant adverse events. Aim: To investigate the safety of peginterferon alfa-2b in 300 hepatitis B e antigen-positive patients with compensated liver disease. Methods: Patients were treated with peginterferon al...

Treatment with polyethylene glycol-modified interferon alfa-2a (peginterferon) alone produces significantly higher sustained antiviral responses than treatment with interferon alfa-2a alone in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We compared the efficacy and safety of peginterferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin, interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin, and peginterferon alfa-2a alone in ...

background: patients with bleeding disorders are frequently infected with hepatitis c virus (hcv). there are few reports on the effect of standard interferon in these patients and no published report on pegylated interferon. the aim of this study was to compare pegylated interferon alpha-2a and standard interferon alpha with ribavirin in patients with bleeding disorders and chronic hcv infectio...

TO THE EDITOR—Interferons are potent antiviral agents that activate expression of numerous interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) that also have antiviral properties. Interferon alfa is commonly used to treat chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, although several viral proteins have been implicated in the inhibition of ISGs and/or key components of interferon signaling pathways [1]. In a recen...

BACKGROUND IL28B gene polymorphism is the best baseline predictor of response to interferon alfa-based antiviral therapies in chronic hepatitis C. Recently, a new IFN-L4 polymorphism was identified as first potential functional variant for induction of IL28B expression. Individualization of interferon alfa-based therapies based on a combination of IL28B/IFN-L4 polymorphisms may help to optimize...

BACKGROUND Pegylated interferon alfa-2a is an immunomodulatory agent used to treat polycythemia vera. The durability of responses and long-term safety of this drug in patients with polycythaemia vera and essential thrombocythaemia have not been reported. Here, we present long-term efficacy and safety data from a single-centre, open-label, phase 2 trial, after a median of 83 months follow up. ...