syndrome (SARS) has led to the use of high-dose intravenous and oral ribavirin in patients affected with this disorder. Ribavirin, a nucleoside analogue with broad antiviral activity, was discovered in 1970 by ICN Pharmaceuticals. In Canada, ribavirin is licensed for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in infants and, in combination with interferon α2b, hepatitis C. In ...

BACKGROUND With the development of new direct acting antiviral (DAA) therapy for hepatitis C, the backbone peginterferon alpha used may be of importance in maximizing treatment outcomes. To this end, the rates of sustained virologic response (SVR), relapse, and treatment discontinuation among hepatitis C genotype 1-infected patients given peginterferon alpha-2a plus ribavirin or peginterferon a...

BACKGROUND Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) viral load and disease severity associate, and the timing of viral load and disease run in parallel. An antiviral must be broadly effective against the natural spectrum of RSV genotypes and must attain concentrations capable of inhibiting viral replication within the human respiratory tract. OBJECTIVES We evaluated a novel RSV fusion inhibitor, MDT...

Ribavirin (1-beta-d-ribofuranosyl-1,2,4-triazole-3-carboxamide), a new synthetic nucleoside, inhibited murine cytomegalovirus in cell culture. This was shown by the inhibition of viral cytopathic effect and plaque formation, as well as reduction in the yield of virus. Despite this in vitro antiviral effect, ribavirin did not protect mice from mortality produced by a high inoculum of cytomegalov...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND. Ribavirin is active in vitro against hantaviruses, but the findings of an open trial of the use of intravenous ribavirin for the treatment of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS) were inconclusive. METHODS Subjects with suspected HCPS in the prodrome or cardiopulmonary phase but without shock were eligible for randomization to receive either intravenous ribavirin ...

This open-label study assessed the pharmacokinetics of a single 400-mg oral dose of ribavirin in 6 healthy volunteers and 18 subjects with varying degrees of renal impairment (mild:creatinine clearance [CLcr] 61-90 mL/min/1.73 m², moderate: CLcr 31-60 mL/min/1.73 m(2), severe: CLcr 10-30 mL/min/1.73 m², n = 6 in each group). Blood and urine samples were collected pre-dose and up to 168 hours po...

Ribavirin, a nucleoside analog, is administered in combination with interferon to patients with chronic hepatitis C. To evaluate the feasibility of ribavirin therapeutic drug monitoring, we investigated the influence of blood collection and preanalytical conditions on ribavirin concentrations and compared the results obtained from interlaboratory blind tests by 3 laboratories using different an...

Ribavirin remains an important component of hepatitis C treatment in certain clinical scenarios, but it causes hemolytic anemia. A quantitative understanding of the ribavirin exposure-anemia relationship is important in dose individualization/optimization. We developed a model relating ribavirin triphosphate (RTP) exposure in red blood cells (RBCs), RBC lifespan, feedback regulation of RBC prod...

When added to cultures of human peripheral blood lymphocytes, ribavirin (1-beta-D-ribofuranosyl-1,2,4-triazole-3-carboxamide) inhibited antigen- and mitogen-induced proliferative responses as determined by [3H]thymidine incorporation. Dose-dependent suppressive effects were obtained when concentrations of 5 to 60 microgram of ribavirin per ml were added at culture initiation or up to 96 h there...

We describe the case of a patient with chronic hepatitis C treated with standard and pegylated-interferon (PEG-IFN) alpha and ribavirin. He developed a reversible hearing loss during the first course of PEG-IFN + ribavirin, but achieved sustained viral clearance and biochemical normalization after PEG-IFN + ribavirin re-treatment.