Human leucocyte interferon-alpha in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C

AIM: To assess the efficacy of different schedules of human leucocyte interferon alpha in chronic hepatitis C. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 213 naive patients with chronic hepatitis C were treated with 4 different schedules of human leucocyte interferon alpha. Sustained response was defined as persistently normal alanine amino transferase values with negative serum hepatitis C virus-RNA up to 12 months after therapy withdrawal. RESULTS: Rates of sustained response were 16% with 3 MU tiw for 6 months, 33% with 6 MU tiw for 5 months after a priming dose of 9 MU tiw for a month, 32% with 3 MU tiw for 12 months and 20% with 3 MU daily for 6 months. The major factors affecting the response rate were age and the hepatitis C virus genotype, as a sustained response was significantly higher in patients under 45 years and infected by hepatitis C virus types other than hepatitis C virus-1. Treatment was well tolerated and side-effects and drop-out events were similar to those described with other types of alpha-interferons. CONCLUSIONS: Human leucocyte interferon alpha appears to be equivalent to recombinant interferon-alpha in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.