BACKGROUND/AIMS Hepatitis C virus infection remains prevalent among patients undergoing long-term haemodialysis and has a detrimental impact on survival in this population. Antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C in haemodialysis patients is still a challenge to clinicians. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of therapy with pegylated interferon, alone or combi...

BACKGROUND/AIMS We aimed to compare viral responses to pegylated interferon 2a plus ribavirin with pegylated interferon alpha 2b plus ribavirin. METHODS Patients with the following characteristics were included: anti HCV(+); normal and/or elevated serum transaminase levels; positive HCV RNA by quantitative PCR; and at least stage 1 fibrosis according to Knodell Scoring System on liver biopsy....

BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a global public health issue. Adequate treatment for hepatitis C patients is important, but anticipated side effects make patients fearful of receiving treatment. Little is known about the experiences of hepatitis C patients who have completed treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. The purpose of this study was to explore the experienc...

The effect of interferon alfa against hepatitis C virus has been well documented. However, clinical efficacy is low due to the short interferon residence in the body. To prolong half-life, interferon molecules have been bound to the biologically inert polymer, polyethyleneglycol. Pegylated interferons exhibit a longer residence time with an improved clinical efficacy, although the rate of thera...

There are seven approved treatments for adults with chronic hepatitis B virus infection in the United States and European countries: interferon-α, pegylated interferon-α, lamivudine, adefovir dipivoxil, entecavir, telbivudine, and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate. At present, two new analogues, entecavir and tenofovir are recommended as the first line therapy by the guidelines of European Associat...

Treatment of naive patients with chronic hepatitis C has already been reviewed in international consensus meetings [1, 2]. The first consensus was held in Paris and standard interferon in combination with ribavirin was judged to be the best treatment for naive patients [1]. Later in 2002 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus meeting stated that pegylated interferon in combination wi...

AIMS To compare interferon monotherapy with its combination with lamivudine for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive hepatitis B treatment. METHODS Two independent researchers identified pertinent randomized controlled trials. The trials were evaluated for methodological quality and heterogeneity. Rates of sustained virological and biochemical responses, and HBeAg clearance and seroconversi...

Introduction: Serum transaminases rose significantly in 7 patients with chronic hepatitis C, genotypes 2 and 3, who were treated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Methods: 219 patients with chronic hepatitis C, genotypes 2 and 3, were treated between 2005 and 2011 following the same protocol. For the 7 patients presented in this paper, the initial liver screen revealed chronic hepatitis ...

Direct acting antiviral agents have revolutionized hepatitis C (HCV) therapy. Many agents that are either currently available or undergoing investigation offer higher rates of sustained virologic response, reduced toxicity and shorter duration of therapy when compared to traditional treatment consisting of pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Although interferon free therapy may be a preferred o...

BACKGROUND To our knowledge, the antiviral activity of pegylated interferon alfa-2a has not been studied in participants with untreated human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection but without chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. METHODS Untreated HIV-1-infected volunteers without HCV infection received 180 microg of pegylated interferon alfa-2a weekly for 12 weeks. Changes in ...