TREATMENT OF CHRONIC HEPATITIS-C INFECTION WITH INTERFERON ALPHA-2A IN A TURKISH POPULATION

Recombinant interferon (IFN) alpha has been shown to normalize the ami notransferase levels in approximately half of patients with chronic he patitis C virus (HCV) infection. Twenty four patients with chronic HCV infection were treated with IFN alpha-2a subcutaneously, three times a week for 6 months. All patients responded to IFN therapy with a decr ease of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level. Thirteen out of 24 cases (54.2%) had normal ALT levels at the end of the sixth month of therap y. However, four of these complete responders (30.8%) relapsed during the 12 month follow-up. Relapse was high in the partial responder grou p (45.5%). Overall relapse rate was 37.5% at 6 months. HCV genotype II , which is associated with a low response rate to IFN was prevalent (8 5 - 87%) in our patient population. This study shows that interferon t herapy can be effective in reducing transaminase levels in patients wi th chronic hepatitis C in a population with a high prevalence of HCV t ype II. The relapse rate after discontinuation of treatment, however, remains a problem.