These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Interferon and steroid treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C and antinuclear or anti-liver-kidney microsomal antibodies.
    Author: Provenzano G, Almasio P, Fabiano C, Magrin S, Pinzello G, Vaccaro A, Craxì A.
    Journal: Ital J Gastroenterol; 1996 Sep; 28(7):377-80. PubMed ID: 8937938.
    Abstract:
    Treatment of HCV-related chronic hepatitis is controversial when non-organ specific autoantibodies are present, due to potential severe autoimmune reactions under interferon. We evaluated, in an open study, a sequential approach (steroid->interferon) in 20 consecutive patients with biopsy-proven chronic hepatitis, anti-HCV positive (EIA2/RIBA2) and autoantibody positive at a titre > or = 1/80 (18 antinuclear and 2 anti-liver-kidney microsomal antibodies). Nine patients responded to steroids (ALT reduced by > or = 50% at 12 weeks) and continued on prednisone up to one year. Notably, ALT did not return to normal and steroid treatment was ineffective in controlling necroinflammation on follow-up biopsies. After stopping prednisone, ALT rebounded to pre-treatment levels in 6/9 cases. Four of these 6 then received interferon: 3 of them had a complete response (e.g. normal ALT at end of therapy), in 2 with loss of HCV RNA. Eleven patients were, instead, steroid resistant and after wash-out were switched to lymphoblastoid alfa-interferon (6 MU t.i.w. for 8 weeks, 3 MU t.i.w. for 16 weeks). Four cases had a complete response to interferon (3 with loss of HCV RNA) with follow-up biopsies showing definite reduction of necroinflammation. None of the 15 receiving interferon in the present study experienced ALT peaks, deterioration of liver disease, autoimmune-like phenomena. We suggest that antiviral treatment with alfa-interferon could be the first choice in chronic hepatitis C, even in autoantibody positive cases.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]