OBJECTIVES Identifying the predictive factors of Sustained Virological Response (SVR) represents an important challenge in new interferon-based DAA therapies. Here, we analyzed the kinetics of antiviral response associated with a triple drug regimen, and the association between negative residual viral load at different time points during treatment. METHODS Twenty-three HCV genotype 1 (GT 1a n...

AIM To determine effectiveness of treatment for hepatitis C outside clinical trials, by testing the hypothesis that apparent effectiveness and tolerability of interferon alfa-2b/ribavirin combination therapy would be less in a hospital liver clinic setting. DESIGN Retrospective analysis of all patients in one centre commencing interferon alfa-2b/ribavirin therapy, but not in clinical trials, ...

One year of interferon therapy inhibits HBV replication in one third of the patients whereas long-term administration of oral nucleos(t)ide analogues is efficient in most of them, as long as early treatment adaptation in patients with partial virological response and resistance is provided. Following the demonstration of a more potent antiviral effect in terms of sustained virological response ...

The combination of pegylated interferon (PEG-INF) and ribavirin is currently the best treatment for chronic hepatitis C, providing a sustained virological response (SVR) in 54%-63% of patients. In patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1, the SVR rate is 42%-52%. To evaluate the treatment efficacy of this drug combination, we conducted an open, prospective study of 58 consecuti...

Single nucleotide polymorphisms of interleukin-28B (IL28B) rs8099917 are reported to be associated with virologic clearance in interferon-and ribavirin -based treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients. We examined virologic response in accordance with IL28B polymorphisms in our living donor liver transplantation series under a preemptive interferon and RBV treatment approach. Adeq...

BACKGROUND/AIMS This study aimed to predict sustained viral response (SVR) to low-dose pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) plus ribavirin of elderly and/or cirrhotic patients with genotype 2 hepatitis C virus (HCV) using viral response within 2 weeks. METHODS Low-dose PEG-IFN-α-2b plus ribavirin was administered to 50 elderly and/or cirrhotic patients with genotype 2 HCV for 24 weeks. The dynamics...

BACKGROUND AND AIM Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major health problem worldwide. Genotype-4 is the most common genotype in Saudi Arabia. The response to treatment with pegylated interferon-α combined with ribavirin in chronic HCV infection varies. This study aimed at investigating the pre- and on-treatment predictors of sustained virologic response (SVR) in patients with chronic hepati...

BACKGROUND The role of apoptosis in treatment-induced HCV clearance is controversial. We sought to assess the kinetics of serum apoptosis-related cytokines during pegylated interferon-α2a or -α2b plus weight-based ribavirin therapy for genotype 1 chronic HCV infection. METHODS Serum levels of soluble Fas (sFas), soluble Fas ligand (sFasL) and soluble tumour necrosis factor receptor I (sTNF-RI...

BACKGROUND/AIMS The treatment for chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is removal of the virus in order to prevent progression to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Few data have been presented regarding the clinical significance of changes in the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level in this context. We analyzed the patterns of changes in ALT level and investigated the relationship betwee...

BACKGROUND Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection leads to life-threatening complications worldwide. Immunomodulation signals the response to virus clearance. The immune-suppressive molecule human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) has been shown to function in inhibiting both innate and adaptive immune responses. The objective of this study was to investigate the expression of HLA-G and IL-37 in s...