Parameters predicting response to ursodeoxycholic acid therapy in chronic hepatitis C

We investigated the parameters predicting the response to ursodeoxycholic a cid (UDCA) therapy in chronic hepatitis C patients. A total of 62 patients, with histologically proven chronic hepatitis C and elevated serum alanin a minotransferase (ALT) levels for more than 6 months, were treated with 600 mg/day of UDCA for 24 months and retrospectively divided into three groups according to the response to UDCA therapy; G1 was defined as patients whose ALT levels had not improved compared with pretreatment ALT levels for more than 6 successive months during therapy; G2 as patients whose ALT levels h ad improved compared with pretreatment ALT levels for more than 6 months, b ut had not normalized during therapy; and G3 as patients those whose ALT le vels normalized for more than 6 months during therapy. As a result, there w ere no significant differences among the three groups with respect to durat ion of illness, hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype, HCV-RNA levels, the amoun t of total serum bile acids and its composition, or other demographic featu res before UDCA therapy. However, ALT levels and HAI scores, including infl ammatory/hepatic activity and fibrosis categories for liver histology befor e therapy, were significantly lower in G3 than GI and G2. These observation s suggest that lower ALT levels and lower histological severity before ther apy contribute towards the normalization of ALT levels as a response to UDC A therapy in chronic hepatitis C. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. Al l rights reserved.