THE IMPORTANCE OF INITIAL DAILY ADMINISTRATION OF INTERFERON-ALPHA FOR THE ERADICATION OF HEPATITIS-C VIRUS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS-G - A MULTICENTER RANDOMIZED TRIAL

BACKGROUND/AIMS: We studied the effect of initial daily administration of interferon for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, to clarify a more effective treatment protocol for the eradication of the hepatitis C virus. METHODOLOGY: Consecutive patients who met the inclusion crit eria were randomily enrolled in two groups in this study. One hundred and five patients were randomized and assigned to two groups. Patients , who enrolled in group A, were treated with 6 million units of natura l interferon- alpha given subcutaneously daily for an initial two week s and then thrice a week for 22 weeks. Patients, who were enrolled in group B, were treated with the same dose of interferon-alpha given for 26 weeks thrice a week from the first administration. RESULTS: In gro ups A and B, 58 and 47 patients were analyzed, respectively. At the en d of treatment, 37 patients in group A (63.8%) had negative serum HCV- RNA test, compared with 26 in group B (55.3%), but at 6 months after d iscontinuation of interferon administration, 27 patients in group A (4 6.6%), compared with 8 in group B (21.3%). The rate of complete remiss ion in group A (46.6%) was higher than that in group B (21.3%) (P<0.01 ). In patients with genotype Ib virus, the rate of complete remission was higher in group A (31.3%) than in group B (12.5%) (not significant ly), and the relapse rate was lower in group A (9.4%) than in group B (37.5%), significantly (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that initial daily interferon administration is necessary to gain a higher rate of serum HCV-RNA eradication in patients with chronic hepatitis C.