TY - JOUR
T1 - Epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic associations of hepatitis C types in western European patients
AU - Simmonds, Peter
AU - Mellor, Janet
AU - Craxi, Antonio
AU - Sanchez-Tapias, Jose Maria
AU - Alberti, Alfredo
AU - Prieto, Jesus
AU - Colombo, Massimo
AU - Rumi, Maria Grazia
AU - Lo Iacano, Oreste
AU - Ampurdanes-Mingall, Sergi
AU - Forns-Bernhardt, Xavier
AU - Chemello, Liliane
AU - Civeira, Maria Pilar
AU - Frost, Christopher
AU - Dusheiko, Geoffrey M.
PY - 1996/5
Y1 - 1996/5
N2 - Background/Aims: Different variants of hepatitis C virus might show different susceptibility to interferon a treatment, but it is important to understand whether this difference in sensitivity reflects an association with other factors, such as cirrhosis or age. Methods: We have used an enzyme-linked immunosorbent hepatitis C virus typing assay based upon the detection of antibody in patient's sera to type-specific NS-4 antigens to investigate the effect of hepatitis C virus type in 610 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection. The influence of viral types and their interdependency with host factors were separately analyzed to establish which factors executed an independent effect on the probability of sustained response. Results: There was a marked difference in the distribution of hepatitis C virus types with age: infection with type 3 was more common in younger patients. The distribution of hepatitis C virus type with age is accounted for by differences in risk-factors for infection in different age groups. The frequency of cirrhosis increased markedly with age. Even after standardization for age, center and the presence of cirrhosis, viral type was strongly related to the outcome of infection. Conclusions: Our data suggest that enzyme-linked immunosorbent hepatitis C virus typing could assist in patient selection for interferon treatment to improve sustained response rates. Together with measurement of viral load, hepatitis C virus typing may serve to indicate the probability of response in patients with chronic hepatitis C, and to elucidate antiviral mechanisms in the disease. The serotyping assay provides a relatively inexpensive screening method to determine the infecting hepatitis C virus type, which could facilitate therapeutic decisions and strategies in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
AB - Background/Aims: Different variants of hepatitis C virus might show different susceptibility to interferon a treatment, but it is important to understand whether this difference in sensitivity reflects an association with other factors, such as cirrhosis or age. Methods: We have used an enzyme-linked immunosorbent hepatitis C virus typing assay based upon the detection of antibody in patient's sera to type-specific NS-4 antigens to investigate the effect of hepatitis C virus type in 610 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection. The influence of viral types and their interdependency with host factors were separately analyzed to establish which factors executed an independent effect on the probability of sustained response. Results: There was a marked difference in the distribution of hepatitis C virus types with age: infection with type 3 was more common in younger patients. The distribution of hepatitis C virus type with age is accounted for by differences in risk-factors for infection in different age groups. The frequency of cirrhosis increased markedly with age. Even after standardization for age, center and the presence of cirrhosis, viral type was strongly related to the outcome of infection. Conclusions: Our data suggest that enzyme-linked immunosorbent hepatitis C virus typing could assist in patient selection for interferon treatment to improve sustained response rates. Together with measurement of viral load, hepatitis C virus typing may serve to indicate the probability of response in patients with chronic hepatitis C, and to elucidate antiviral mechanisms in the disease. The serotyping assay provides a relatively inexpensive screening method to determine the infecting hepatitis C virus type, which could facilitate therapeutic decisions and strategies in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
KW - Antiviral
KW - Chronic hepatitis
KW - Genotypes
KW - Hepatitis C
KW - Hepatitis C virus
KW - Interferon
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U2 - 10.1016/S0168-8278(96)80135-8
DO - 10.1016/S0168-8278(96)80135-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 8773905
AN - SCOPUS:0029934213
VL - 24
SP - 517
EP - 524
JO - Journal of Hepatology
JF - Journal of Hepatology
SN - 0168-8278
IS - 5
ER -