State of the iron metabolism in patients with chronic hepatitis C type C does not influence antiviral treatment with interferon and ribavirin

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Comparison of the iron status in patients who responded and did not respond to combination treatment with interferon alpha and ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C. METHODOLOGY: The study group comprised of 61 patients with chronic hepatitis C (genotype 1) treated with alpha 2b interferon and ribavirin. The iron metabolism was evaluated based on serum iron level, total iron binding capacity, transferrin saturation, serum ferritin concentration and hepatic iron concentration. In the evaluation of antiviral treatment efficacy biochemical and virological responses were taken into account. RESULTS: End of treatment response was observed in 38 patients (62%). Significant differences in iron parameters were not observed between responders and non-responders. Also, sustained viral response, 6 months after treatment completion, was reached in 32 patients (52.5%). Iron metabolism parameters did not differ significantly in the group of sustained responders versus non- responders. Finally, ALT normalization was observed in 42 patients (68.9%). Again, no significant differences in iron status were observed between patients with and without biochemical response excluding significantly higher serum ferritin concentration in non-responders. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study show that iron status does not significantly influence the efficacy of treatment with interferon and ribavirin in patients with chronic hepatitis C.