Abstract:

 Objective  To observe the response of chronic hepatitis C patients with low viral load to antiviral treatment by different interferon(IFN) modality. Methods  120 patients with chronic hepatitis C were assigned to Peg-IFN group(n=58, treated with Peginterferon alfa-2a injection in dose of 180μg once a week) and recombinant human interferon α-2b injection group(n=62, administered in dose of 600 MU once every other day), and the two groups were given additional dosage of ribavirin by 900~1200 mg/d. The treatment course was as follows: 24 weeks were extended after rapid virological response(RVR), and 36 weeks after early virological response(EVR). For patients failed to meet EVR by the 12th week, 48 weeks were extended. The data were retrospectively analyzed on response to antiviral treatment, interferon modality and final viral load after treatment. Results  RVR and EVR were 79% and 85.4% for the patients treated with recombinant human interferon α-2b injection, and 81%, and 89.6 % for Peg-IFN group, respectively(χ2 = 0.009, P＞0.05; χ2 = 0.036, P＞0.05). There was no significance between groups regarding sustained virological response(SVR)(χ2 = 0.010, P＞0.05). Conclusion  Interferon α-2b and pegylated interferon α-2a may produce similar effects on chronic hepatitis C patients with lower viral load by statistical estimation of RVR, EVR and SVR.

Key words:  Chronic hepatitis C, Pegylated interferon α-2a, Recombinant human interferon α-2b, Virological response