TY - JOUR
T1 - Interferon alpha-2b and ribavirin in combination for patients with chronic hepatitis C who failed to respond to, or relapsed after, interferon alpha therapy
T2 - A randomized trial
AU - Barbaro, Giuseppe
AU - Di Lorenzo, Gabriella
AU - Belloni, Giancarlo
AU - Ferrari, Luisella
AU - Paiano, Aldo
AU - Del Poggio, Paolo
AU - Bacca, Donato
AU - Fruttaldo, Luigi
AU - Mongiò, Franco
AU - Francavilla, Ruggiero
AU - Scotto, Gaetano
AU - Grisorio, Benvenuto
AU - Calleri, Guido
AU - Annese, Mauro
AU - Barelli, Andrea
AU - Rocchetto, Piero
AU - Rizzo, Giovanni
AU - Gualandi, Guido
AU - Poltronieri, Italo
AU - Barbarini, Giorgio
PY - 1999/8
Y1 - 1999/8
N2 - PURPOSE: To assess the efficacy of interferon alpha-2b and ribavirin in combination in the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C who had either failed to respond to therapy with interferon alpha (nonresponders), or who had relapsed after interferon therapy (relapsers). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Four hundred patients with chronic hepatitis C (200 nonresponders and 200 relapsers) were randomly assigned in equal numbers to receive either subcutaneous administration of recombinant interferon alpha-2b (3 million units three times per week) and ribavirin (1,000 to 1,200 mg/daily orally) or interferon alpha-2b alone (6 million units three times per week). Both ribavirin and interferon alpha-2b were given for 24 weeks. The patients were then followed for an additional 24 weeks. RESULTS: At the end of the treatment period, normalization of serum alanine aminotransferase levels and absence of hepatitis C virus RNA were seen in 21% of nonresponders and in 39% of relapsers who were treated with interferon alpha-2b and ribavirin, compared with 5% of nonresponders (P = 0.001) and 9% of relapsers treated with interferon alpha-2b alone (P
AB - PURPOSE: To assess the efficacy of interferon alpha-2b and ribavirin in combination in the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C who had either failed to respond to therapy with interferon alpha (nonresponders), or who had relapsed after interferon therapy (relapsers). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Four hundred patients with chronic hepatitis C (200 nonresponders and 200 relapsers) were randomly assigned in equal numbers to receive either subcutaneous administration of recombinant interferon alpha-2b (3 million units three times per week) and ribavirin (1,000 to 1,200 mg/daily orally) or interferon alpha-2b alone (6 million units three times per week). Both ribavirin and interferon alpha-2b were given for 24 weeks. The patients were then followed for an additional 24 weeks. RESULTS: At the end of the treatment period, normalization of serum alanine aminotransferase levels and absence of hepatitis C virus RNA were seen in 21% of nonresponders and in 39% of relapsers who were treated with interferon alpha-2b and ribavirin, compared with 5% of nonresponders (P = 0.001) and 9% of relapsers treated with interferon alpha-2b alone (P
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0032838890&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0032838890&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S0002-9343(99)00160-6
DO - 10.1016/S0002-9343(99)00160-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 10460040
AN - SCOPUS:0032838890
VL - 107
SP - 112
EP - 118
JO - American Journal of Medicine
JF - American Journal of Medicine
SN - 0002-9343
IS - 2
ER -