Decline of hepatitis C virus load in serum during the first 24 h after administration of in interferon-beta as a predictor of the efficacy of therapy

Background/Aims: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) kinetics during interferon (IFN)-a lpha treatment have been evaluated recently, however, little is known about the resultant viral kinetics in IFN-beta treatment. In this study, we eval uated HCV kinetics during the first 24 h of IFN-beta treatment, and also as sessed their relationship to therapeutic outcomes. Methods: We measured HCV RNA levels at 0 and 24 h after the initiation of I FN-beta treatment, and we calculated the decay slope, viral half-life, and viral production and clearance. Then we analyzed these factors as they rela ted to therapeutic responses with IFN-beta as well as to clinical variables , i.e. genotype, diversity of hyper variable region, and histological findi ngs. Results: Patients with sustained responses (SR) displayed steeper decay slo pes of the viral load than those without SR (2.87 +/- 1.41 vs. 1.82 +/- 1.6 6, P = 0.031). On the other hand, the decay slope was not affected by the c linical variables, The values of viral half-life and viral production and c learance showed no significant correlation to the response and the clinical variables. onclusion: This study demonstrated that the decay slope of the viral load d uring the first 24 h is related to the virological response to IFN-beta tre atment. (C) 2001 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Else vier Science B.V. All rights reserved.