TOLERANCE AND EFFICACY OF SUBCUTANEOUS INTERFERON-BETA ADMINISTERED FOR TREATMENT OF CHRONIC HEPATITIS-C

We studied tolerance to subcutaneous (s,c) administration of 6 million units of interferon-beta (IFN-beta), given three times per week for 6 months, and its efficacy in the treatment of 15 patients with chronic hepatitis C, At the end of the treatment, alanine aminotransferase (A LT) levels were significantly reduced (p = 0.024) in all patients, and 4 (27%) had a normal ALT value, However, at the end of the study (12 months), only 1 of these 4 had a sustained response. No patient cleare d hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA completely, but the RNA could be detecte d only by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the sustained responder, Adverse side effects to the s.c.IFN-beta were infrequent, Leukocyte (p = 0.012) and platelet (p = 0.013) counts decreased significantly duri ng treatment but did not necessitate dose modifications, Thus, althoug h s.c. IFN-beta at the dosage used had little efficacy in the treatmen t of chronic hepatitis C, the excellent tolerance to the treatment sug gests that the effects of higher doses should be explored.