Title: Varied Virological Response of Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C against the Treatment of Pegylated Interferon- α and Ribavirin
Abstract:INTRODUCTION : Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is the leading cause of death throughout the world.The standard of care for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C is combination therapy with Pegylated Interferon...INTRODUCTION : Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is the leading cause of death throughout the world.The standard of care for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C is combination therapy with Pegylated Interferon (PEG-IFNα 2a) and Ribavirin (RBV).There currently exists no systematic explanation for these genotypespecific differences in clinical outcome.Furthermore, whether factors that govern outcome for one genotype play a similar role in other genotype remains to be fully explored.Hence, the present study was taken in consideration of the factors emphasizing their impact on the sustained virological response (SVR) against HCV genotypes. METHODOLOGY :A total of 50 patients (Age, Mean: ±SD 42.53 ± 12.6) having chronic hepatitis C genotype 3 and genotype 1 who showed positive result for HCV-RNA for more than 6 months were treated with combination therapy of PEG-IFNα 2a and RBV.All the patients were followed up for 48 weeks of post treatment and varied virological response was recorded in respect to the HCV genotypes, subtypes and biological parameters. RESULTS :In present study, we have observed that males had a better SVR and EVR as compared to females in both the genotypes (genotype 1 and genotype 3) and among the non responders there were less males as compared to females.It was also seen that there were less females who showed EVR and SVR as compared to males. CONCLUSION :Our study has demonstrated that EVR, RVR, NR and most importantly SVR are important factors for the achievement of complete virological response against HCV genotypes and subtypes.Read More