Treatment of chronic hepatitis C with cirrhosis with recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor plus recombinant interferon-alpha

✍ Scribed by Margarita Pardo; Inmaculada Castillo; Sonia Navas; Dr. Vicente Carreño

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 525 KB
• Volume: 45
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.1890450415

✦ Synopsis

Interferon therapy in cirrhotic patients with hepatitis C virus infection is not efficient. In an at- tempt t o improve the response rate, a pilot study using recombinant human granulocyte colonystimulating factor (rhG-CSF) alone, and in combination with recombinant interferon-alpha (rlFN), was carried out. Fifteen cirrhotic patients with hepatitis C virus infection were randomly allocated into 3 groups to receive treatment: 0.5, 1, or 1.5 pg/kg of rhG-CSF daily for 4 weeks, followed by a 4 week resting period, and by the same dose of rhG-CSF daily, plus 6 MU of rlFN 3 times weekly for 4 weeks. They then continued to receive 6 MU of rlFN alone for 4 weeks, foliowed by 3 MU of rlFN for 16 weeks. After the 4 weeks of treatment with rhG-CSF alone, no changes in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were observed. No changes occurred during the resting period. Three of 10 patients who ended the rhG-CSF plus rlFN treatment period had normal ALT values. During the treatment with rlFN alone, two responders suffered a relapse. The other responder had normal ALT until the first month of follow-up. In summary, the combination of rhG-CSF and rlFN seems promising for the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C and liver cirrhosis.