Interferon therapy for patients more than 60 years of age with chronic hepatitis C |
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Authors: | NORIO HORIIKE TOSHIKAZU MASUMOTO KIMIO NAKANISHI KOJIRO MICHITAKA KIYOTAKA KUROSE IZUMI OHKURA MORIKAZU ONJI |
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Affiliation: | Third Department of Internal Medicine, Ehime University School of Medicine, Ehime, Japan |
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Abstract: | Abstract Nineteen patients aged > 60 years with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) received interferon (IFN) therapy and a complete response (CR) was achieved by five of them (26%). The incidence of CH with severe fibrosis in this elderly group was significantly higher than in another 52 patients with CHC who were < 60 years of age (the younger group; P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype distribution between the elderly group and the younger group. However, the HCV-RNA titre was significantly higher in the elderly group than in the younger group ( P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the efficacy rate of IFN in the elderly and younger groups after standardization of the background factors. In the elderly group, the HCV-RNA titre was significantly lower in the patients achieving CR than in those with no response ( P < 0.05). These data suggest that elderly patients with a low HCV-RNA titre can still respond well to IFN therapy. |
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Keywords: | age, chronic hepatitis, hepatitis C virus, interferon. |
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