INTRODUCTION Less than half of patients with chronic hepatitis C genotype 3 (G3) and high viral load (HVL) without a rapid virological response (RVR) achieve a sustained virological response (SVR) when treated with peginterferon plus ribavirin (RBV). OBJECTIVES To assess the impact of high doses of RBV on SVR in patients with G3 and HVL. METHODS Ninety-seven patients were randomized to rece...

BACKGROUND/AIMS We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of peginterferon plus ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients under real life setting in Korea. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 758 CHC patients treated with peginterferon plus ribavirin between 2000 and 2008 from 14 university hospitals in the Gyeonggi-Incheon area in Korea. RESULTS Hepatitis C...

BACKGROUND & AIMS Improved therapeutic options for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are needed for patients who are poor candidates for treatment with current regimens due to anticipated intolerability or low likelihood of response. METHODS In this open-label, phase 2a study of Japanese patients with chronic HCV genotype 1b infection, 21 null responders (<2 log₁₀ HCV RNA reduction af...

BACKGROUND The effect of peginterferon and ribavirin treatment on chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been established in several controlled clinical studies. However, the effectiveness of treatment and predictors of treatment success in routine clinical practice remains to be established. Our aim was to estimate the effectiveness of peginterferon and ribavirin treatment in unselected...

BACKGROUND The efficacy of first-generation protease inhibitor based triple-therapy against hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is limited in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients with advanced liver fibrosis and non-response to previous peginterferon-ribavirin. These patients have a low chance of achieving a sustained virologic response (SVR) using first generation triple-therapy, with a success rate of o...

BACKGROUND Subcutaneous peginterferon beta-1a provided clinical benefits at Year 1 (placebo-controlled period) of the 2-Year Phase 3 ADVANCE study in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Here we report the effect of peginterferon beta-1a on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) lesions, and no evidence of disease activity (NEDA; absence of clinical [relapses and 12-week confirmed dis...

BACKGROUND Protease inhibitors have improved treatment of infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV), but dosing, a low barrier to resistance, drug interactions, and side-effects restrict their use. We assessed the safety and efficacy of sofosbuvir, a uridine nucleotide analogue, in treatment-naive patients with genotype 1-3 HCV infection. METHODS In this two-cohort, phase 2 trial, we recruited t...

BACKGROUND & AIMS We conducted an open-label, randomized, phase 3 trial to determine the efficacy and safety of sofosbuvir and ribavirin, with and without peginterferon-alfa, in treatment-experienced patients with cirrhosis and hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 2 infection and treatment-naïve or treatment-experienced patients with HCV genotype 3 infection. METHODS The study was conducted at 80...

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus (HCV)/HIV co-infected patients have more rapid progression of liver fibrosis and only modest cure rates (sustained virologic responses, SVRs) when compared to HCV monoinfected patients. METHOD We compared the virologic responses of either twice-weekly peginterferon-α-2a 180 μg/week (for 4 weeks, followed by weekly dosing) or weekly peginterferon-α-2a 180 μg/week, ...

Several epidemiological studies have linked coffee consumption to beneficial effects on liver function tests and also to protection against the development of hepatocellular carcinoma [1,2]. Recently the association of coffee intake and liver disease progression was prospectively examined in participants of the HALT-C trial [3] which demonstrated that higher coffee consumption at baseline (defi...