The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of epoetin-beta on anemia and sustained viral response in patients with chronic hepatitis C receiving treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Forty-two Caucasian patients with chronic hepatitis C infection, treated with pegylated interferon α-2a or α-2b plus ribavirin, who experienced at least a 2 log decline in HCV-RNA in the first month of therapy and a ≥2.5 g/dl hemoglobin drop from baseline, were recruited. They were divided into two groups: 22 patients received epoetin-beta 30,000U administered s.c. q.w. (group A) and 20 patients received a reduced ribavirin dose of 600mg daily (group B). The end-of-treatment responsewas95.4% (21/22) in group A and 80% (16/20) (P=0.2) in group B. Sustained viral response in group A was 81.8% (18/22), statistically higher than in group B (45%, 9/20) (P=0.03). Mean corpuscular volume of erythrocytes was statistically lower in group A than in group B 4 weeks after starting epoetinbeta or reduced ribavirin dose (P<0.001), end-oftreatment (P<0.001) and after 6 months followup (P<0.001).Anegative correlation between the levels of ferritin serum was found in group A at the baseline and mean corpuscular volume value after 1 month of combination antiviral therapy (r=-0.45; P=0.35), 4 weeks after starting epoetin-beta (r=-0.43; P=0.04) and after 6 months follow-up (r=-0.45; P=0.03). Administration of epoetin-beta increases sustained viral response rates among patients developing anemia, because the standard dose of ribavirin is maintained, thereby reducing the side-effects of antiviral treatment
Use of epoetin beta during combination therapy of infection with hepatitis c virus with ribavirin improves a sustained viral response.
FALASCA, KATIA;UCCIFERRI, CLAUDIO;MANCINO, PAOLA;GORGORETTI, VALERIA;PIZZIGALLO, Eligio;VECCHIET, Jacopo
2010-01-01
Abstract
The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of epoetin-beta on anemia and sustained viral response in patients with chronic hepatitis C receiving treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Forty-two Caucasian patients with chronic hepatitis C infection, treated with pegylated interferon α-2a or α-2b plus ribavirin, who experienced at least a 2 log decline in HCV-RNA in the first month of therapy and a ≥2.5 g/dl hemoglobin drop from baseline, were recruited. They were divided into two groups: 22 patients received epoetin-beta 30,000U administered s.c. q.w. (group A) and 20 patients received a reduced ribavirin dose of 600mg daily (group B). The end-of-treatment responsewas95.4% (21/22) in group A and 80% (16/20) (P=0.2) in group B. Sustained viral response in group A was 81.8% (18/22), statistically higher than in group B (45%, 9/20) (P=0.03). Mean corpuscular volume of erythrocytes was statistically lower in group A than in group B 4 weeks after starting epoetinbeta or reduced ribavirin dose (P<0.001), end-oftreatment (P<0.001) and after 6 months followup (P<0.001).Anegative correlation between the levels of ferritin serum was found in group A at the baseline and mean corpuscular volume value after 1 month of combination antiviral therapy (r=-0.45; P=0.35), 4 weeks after starting epoetin-beta (r=-0.43; P=0.04) and after 6 months follow-up (r=-0.45; P=0.03). Administration of epoetin-beta increases sustained viral response rates among patients developing anemia, because the standard dose of ribavirin is maintained, thereby reducing the side-effects of antiviral treatmentI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
