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JAC Advance Access originally published online on January 5, 2006
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2006 57(2):360-363; doi:10.1093/jac/dki458
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Dose-dependent and genotype-independent sustained virological response of a 12 week pegylated interferon alpha-2b treatment for acute hepatitis C

Francesco G. De Rosa*, Olivia Bargiacchi, Sabrina Audagnotto, Silvia Garazzino, Giuseppe Cariti, Riccardo Raiteri and Giovanni Di Perri

Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

Received 27 April 2005; returned 6 July 2005; revised 10 October 2005; accepted 20 November 2005

* Correspondence address. Ospedale Amedeo di Savoia, Corso Svizzera 164, 10149 Turin, Italy. Tel: +39-011-4393926; Fax: +39-011-4393882; E-mail: francescogiuseppe.derosa{at}unito.it

Objectives: The optimal regimen for acute hepatitis C (AHC) is considered to be a 24 week treatment with interferon (IFN) alpha-2b. A 24 week treatment with pegylated IFN (PEG-IFN) alpha-2b is also effective. This study was designed to assess response rates to a 12 week regimen of PEG-IFN alpha-2b.

Patients and methods: Patients with AHC were treated with PEG-IFN alpha-2b for 12 weeks in an open, non-randomized, prospective cohort study. Diagnosis of AHC was made with positive serum HCV RNA and elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels with a documented seroconversion or a known risk factor in the preceding 6 months. Treatment was administered within a median of 31 days (range 0–116) of the ALT level peak at a dosage varying from 1.06 to 1.66 µg/kg/week. The primary end-point was a sustained virological response (SVR).

Results: Nineteen patients were treated, of whom 11 patients (57.9%) had HCV genotype 1. Fourteen patients were asymptomatic. An SVR was achieved in 74% of patients and the SVR rate was 100 and 83.3%, respectively, in genotype 1 and non-1 infected patients treated with a dosage ≥1.33 µg/kg, compared with 40 and 50%, respectively, in those who received a lower dosage. An SVR was significantly associated by multivariate analysis only with PEG-IFN dosage ≥1.33 µg/kg/week. No significant association was found with any viral genotype.

Conclusions: The rate of SVR was independent of the HCV genotype and was significantly associated by multivariate analysis only with the higher PEG-IFN dosage. Early identification and treatment of AHC is likely to decrease the burden of chronic hepatitis, especially when caused by HCV genotype 1.

Keywords: hepatitis C virus , acute hepatitis , interferon treatment , IFN , HCV


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J. Wiegand, K. Deterding, M. Cornberg, and H. Wedemeyer
Treatment of acute hepatitis C: the success of monotherapy with (pegylated) interferon {alpha}
J. Antimicrob. Chemother., November 1, 2008; 62(5): 860 - 865.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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