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- Title
European vs. Egyptian HCV-4 Patients with Elevated Baseline HCV RNA, Treated with PEG-IFN-a2a and Ribavirin: The Role of Rapid and Early Virologic Response.
- Authors
Dimitroulopoulos, Dimitrios; Elefsiniotis, Ioannis; Pavlidis, Christos; Xinopoulos, Dimitrios; Tsamakidis, Klisthenis; Patsavela, Stamatina; Kypreos, Dimitrios; Ferderigou, Ageliki; Korkolis, Dimitrios; Koutsounas, Sotirios; Saroglou, Georgios; Paraskevas, Emmanouil
- Abstract
Background and Aims: Despite the recent spread of hepatitis C virus genotype 4 (HCV-4) into European countries, very little is known about the influence of ethnicity on treatment outcomes in patients with HCV-4. The aim of this study was to compare the virologic response (VR) rates of: rapid virologic response (RVR), early virologic response (EVR), VR at 24 weeks of treatment, at end of treatment (EoT), and sustained virologic response (SVR) of European and Egyptian HCV-4 patients. Methods: Sixty (30 Europeans - Group A; and 30 Egyptians - Group B) chronic HCV-4 subtype A adult patients with elevated baseline viral load (>800 000 IU/m L) were treated for a fixed period of 48 weeks with pegylated interferon a2a (PEG-IFN- a2a) and ribavirin. During the study, HCV RNA levels were measured at weeks 4,12,24,48 and 72. Results: Baseline characteristics, including liver histology, were similar in the two groups. RVR, EVR and HCV RNA at week 24 in Groups A and B were (RVR 26.7% vs. 30.0%) (EVR 23.3% vs. 16.7%) (in week 24 13.3% vs. 16.7%). Overall SVR rates were 36.7% (11/30) for Group A and 26.7% (8/30) for Group B (P = 0.59). For group B, RVR was the weakest indicator for SVR as compared with RVR of group A, where RVR was the best SVR indicator. Conclusions: The overall response to treatment was similar, but ethnic origin or previous history and treatment of schistosomiasis may influence intermediate response rates of chronic HCV-4a infected patients with elevated baseline HCV RNA.
- Subjects
EUROPE; EGYPT; HEPATITIS C treatment; RIBAVIRIN; INTERFERONS; MEDICAL research
- Publication
Hepatitis Monthly, 2010, Vol 10, Issue 3, p193
- ISSN
1735-143X
- Publication type
Article