RECOMBINANT ALPHA-INTERFERON IN RENAL-ALLOGRAFT RECIPIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS-C

Background. Although chronic hepatitis C infection is one of the facto rs that can lead to morbidity and mortality in renal allograft recipie nts, treatment procedures have not been well documented. Interferon tr eatment has been shown to be effective in the normalization of biochem ical hepatitis C and in the clearing of hepatitis C virus RNA. However , little is known concerning the efficacy and safety of interferon tre atment in renal allograft recipients with chronic hepatitis C, Interfe ron has also been accused of increasing renal allograft rejection. Met hods. Recombinant alpha-interferon in a dose of 4.5 million units thre e times per week was given to five renal-allograft recipients with chr onic hepatitis C for 6 months, Besides biochemical investigations, liv er histopathologies before and after the treatment course were also st udied. Results. Interferon treatment was effective in two of the patie nts, in another two cases renal function deteriorated during the treat ment. In the last case ALT increased again after cessation of interfer on therapy. Conclusion. We conclude that interferon seems to be modera tely effective in treating chronic hepatitis C in renal allograft reci pients, but a risk of renal functional deterioration and rejection rem ains.