CLINICAL AND HISTOLOGIC PREDICTORS OF RESPONSE TO INTERFERON-ALPHA INPATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS-C VIRAL-INFECTION

To evaluate if any pretreatment characteristics of patients with chron ic hepatitis C (HCV) can be used to predict response to the current re commended dose (3 million units three times a week) and higher doses o f interferon-alpha (IFN), we retrospectively assessed the response of 37 patients with HCV who were treated with IFN. Sixteen patients (43%) responded to the standard dose of IFN with normalization of ALT. Weig ht and liver histology were found to be significant factors for respon se. The responders weighed significantly less than nonresponders (161. 8 +/- 35.5 lb versus 200.3 +/- 45.4 lb, P = 0.008). Seventy-five perce nt of patients with chronic lobular or persistent hepatitis were respo nders, whereas only 28% of patients with more advanced hepatitis respo nded (P = 0.01). There was no correlation between the degree of bile d uct damage or steatosis and response rate. This study suggests that ob esity and severe histologic injury are negative predictive factors of response to the current recommended dose of IFN. The adequacy of the c urrent recommended dose of IFN in overweight patients needs to be inve stigated.