BACKGROUND Primary analysis of the Hepatitis C Antiviral Long-Term Treatment against Cirrhosis (HALT-C) Trial showed long-term peginterferon therapy did not reduce complications in patients with chronic hepatitis C and advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis. AIM To assess the effects of long-term peginterferon therapy and disease progression on health-related quality of life (HRQOL), symptoms and sex...

Peginterferon beta-1a was efficacious in a Phase 3 relapsing multiple sclerosis trial, and its safety profile was consistent with other beta interferons. This study evaluated the impact of renal impairment on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (neopterin elevation; a biomarker of pharmacological activity induced by interferon beta-1a) of peginterferon beta-1a following a single subcutane...

OBJECTIVE to assess the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of peginterferon alfa and ribavirin for the treatment of chronic hepatitis c virus (HCV) in three specific patient subgroups affected by recent licence changes: those eligible for shortened treatment courses [i.e. those with low viral load (LVL) and who attained a rapid virological response (RVR) at 4 weeks of treatment], tho...

BACKGROUND The standard care of treatment of interferon plus ribavirin (plus protease inhibitor for genotype 1) are effective in 50 % to 70 % of patients with CHC. Several new treatments including Harvoni, Olysio + Sovaldi, Viekira Pak, Sofosbuvir-based regimens characterized with potent inhibitors have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) providing more options for CHC patie...

The treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) has improved greatly over the past decade. Over half of all patients treated with the combination of peginterferon and ribavirin have the opportunity to achieve sustained virologic response. The major factors which interfere with this goal are the side effects of therapy which require that the doses of peginterferon or ribavirin be reduced or tha...

background despite significant advances in the treatment of chronic hepatitis c in the past decades, factors which can affect response rates to combination therapy; peginterferon and ribavirin, are still under study and reaching sustained virological response (svr) is affected by several different factors. objectives to investigate predictor factors contributing to svr in iranian patients. pati...

background: hepatitis c virus (hcv) infection is the most common transfusion transmitted disease in poly-transfused patients worldwide. in this study we aimed to evaluate the effects of pegylated interferon alfa-2a (peg-ifn a-2a) in reducing serum alt and eradicating serum hepatitis c virus (hcv) rna in hcv infected polytransfused thalassemic patients. materials and methods: a cohort of 51 hcv-...

chronic hepatitis c might lead to several immunological dysfunctions. studies have shown a positive association between hepatitis c virus (hcv) infection and psoriasis. these results suggest that the infection may be one of the triggering factors for the development or exacerbation of psoriasis. here, we present a case of chronic hcv infection with psoriasis who developed exacerbation of skin l...

OBJECTIVE In Taiwan, the carrier rate of hepatitis B surface antigen is 15% to 20%, one of the highest in the world. Among chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative accounts for approximately 40% to 50% of these patients. A recent study found that peginterferon alfa-2a (40 KD) is more effective than lamivudine in treating HBeAg-negative CHB, but its cost-effecti...

BACKGROUND Data on which to base definitive recommendations on the doses and duration of therapy for genotype 3 HCV/HIV-coinfected patients are scarce. We evaluated the efficacy of a lower peginterferon-α 2a dose and a shorter duration of therapy than the current standard of care in genotype 3 HCV/HIV-coinfected patients. METHODS AND FINDINGS Pilot, open-label, single arm clinical trial which...