Ba. Farhat et al., EVALUATION OF EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF THYMUS HUMORAL FACTOR-GAMMA-2 INTHE MANAGEMENT OF CHRONIC HEPATITIS-B, Journal of hepatology, 23(1), 1995, pp. 21-27
Background/Aims: We investigated the antiviral and immunomodulatory ef
fects of a combination treatment using thymus humoral factor-gamma 2 a
nd alpha-interferon in patients with chronic hepatitis B in whom previ
ous monotherapy with interferon had failed. Methods: Nine HBeAg and HB
V-DNA seropositive patients received thymus humoral factor-gamma 2 alo
ne for 2 months, thymus humoral factor-gamma 2 plus alpha-interferon f
or 2 months and finally alpha-interferon alone for 2 months. Results:
Treatment with thymus humoral factor-gamma 2 alone was not associated
with any side effects, The interferon-induced lymphopenia was signific
antly less marked during the combined therapy in comparison to the pre
vious course with interferon alone (mean reduction of lymphocyte count
s 33.5+/-11.6% versus 56.3+/-16.7%, respectively, p<0,05), The combina
tion of thymus humoral factor-gamma 2 plus interferon showed a signifi
cantly more profound inhibition of serum HBV-DNA (mean reduction from
the pretreatment level 90.6+/-13.3%) compared to the earlier monothera
py with interferon in the same patients (mean reduction 55.5+/-34.7%,
p<0,01), As a result of the combined thymus humoral factor-gamma 2 plu
s alpha-interferon regimen three out of nine patients became HBV-DNA n
egative and seroconverted to anti-HBe, Thymus humoral factor-gamma 2 a
ppears to exert mainly a functional effect on T lymphocytes, as interl
eukin-2 production was increased in the majority of treated patients,
whilst the expression of lymphocyte activation markers remained unchan
ged. Conclusions: These data suggest that thymus humoral factor-gamma
2 may be useful in a combined therapeutic approach in chronic HBV carr
iers. (C) Journal of Hepatology.