The treatment of chronic hepatitis C is rapidly evolving from triple therapy to regimens that do not require interferon or even ribavirin. However, pegylated interferon and ribavirin will remain the backbone of hepatitis C therapy for the time being. This review summarizes the pharmacokinetics of peginterferon and ribavirin with a particular emphasis on their side-effect profile and management....

PURPOSE To identify the effect of pegylated interferon ƒ¿-2b and ribavirin treatment in the ocular fundus examination, visual acuity, and visual field. METHODS Prospective observational study was performed at the Hepatology Clinic of Sao Jose Regional Hospital and at the Vitreoretinal Department at the Sadalla Amin Ghanem Eye Hospital in patients with chronic hepatitis C before and during tre...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major cause of acute and chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. HBV has also been associated with various common and uncommon glomerular diseases, including IgA nephropathy (IgAN). We report a patient with chronic HBV infection who presented with atypical features of IgAN with management and long-term follow-up. Much of the data on the...

The current standard of treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a combination of two drugs: pegylated interferon and ribavirin. The virological response rate, treatment duration, and ribavirin dose vary according to several prognostic factors: genotype, baseline HCV RNA (viral load), race, body weight, age, and liver histology. In one study, 48 weeks of pegylated interferon plus ribavirin led ...

The current treatment of chronic hepatitis C since several years, the association of pegylated interferon and ribavirine, allows to obtain a virological eradication in 55% of patients, all genotypes and 45% of those infected with the genotype 1, the most prevalent. The cure, defined by an undetectable viremia 24 weeks after the discontinuation of treatment is associated to a improvement of the ...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects about 170 million people worldwide and is the most common chronic blood borne infection in the United States. Since the advent of blood screening protocols in the early 1990s, injection drug use has become the leading cause of infection. Hepatitis C can have both hepatic and nonhepatic manifestations of infection. Hepatic manifestations include hepatic fibrosis, ...

Few studies have been conducted in the Eastern Mediterranean region on chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with reference to genotypes. We investigated the response to standard combination therapy (pegylated interferon/ribavirin) of different genotypes of HCV in Kuwaiti patients and factors that could be associated with sustained virological response (SVR). The records of all Kuwaiti pati...

Telaprevir is an inhibitor of the HCV NS3/4A protease. When used in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin, telaprevir has demonstrated a substantial increase in sustained virological response compared with pegylated interferon and ribavirin used alone. Telaprevir has good oral bioavailability, which is enhanced when administered with food. Telaprevir is extensively metabolized and...

Abbreviations: FCH, fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis; HAV, hepatitis A virus; HBIG, hepatitis B immunoglobulin; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; HCV, hepatitis C virus; HCV-R, HCV recurrence; HDV, hepatitis D virus; HEV, hepatitis E virus; HVPG, hepatic venous pressure gradient; IgM, immunoglobulin M; LADR, low accelerated dose regimen; LAM, lamivudine; IFNa , interferon al...

This was an open-label, uncontrolled study with the aim of assessing the efficacy and safety of pegylated interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. The study was conducted in Island Hospital, Penang beween January 2002 and December 2003. Thirty-three patients were enrolled in this study with ten defaulters. The overall sustained virological response (SVR) (Inten...