PMID- 9058311
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 19970529
LR  - 20041117
IS  - 1079-9907 (Print)
IS  - 1079-9907 (Linking)
VI  - 17
IP  - 2
DP  - 1997 Feb
TI  - Tolerance and efficacy of subcutaneous interferon-beta administered for treatment 
      of chronic hepatitis C.
PG  - 65-7
AB  - We studied tolerance to subcutaneous (s.c.) administration of 6 million units of 
      interferon-beta (IFN-beta), given three times per week for 6 months, and its 
      efficacy in the treatment of 15 patients with chronic hepatitis C. At the end of 
      the treatment, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were significantly reduced 
      (p = 0.024) in all patients, and 4 (27%) had a normal ALT value. However, at the 
      end of the study (12 months), only 1 of these 4 had a sustained response. No 
      patient cleared hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA completely, but the RNA could be 
      detected only by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the sustained responder. 
      Adverse side effects to the s.c. IFN-beta were infrequent. Leukocyte (p = 0.012) 
      and platelet (p = 0.013) counts decreased significantly during treatment but did 
      not necessitate dose modifications. Thus, although s.c. IFN-beta at the dosage 
      used had little efficacy in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, the excellent 
      tolerance to the treatment suggests that the effects of higher doses should be 
      explored.
FAU - Castro, A
AU  - Castro A
AD  - Hospital Juan Canalejo, A Coruna, Spain.
FAU - Carballo, E
AU  - Carballo E
FAU - Dominguez, A
AU  - Dominguez A
FAU - Diago, M
AU  - Diago M
FAU - Suarez, D
AU  - Suarez D
FAU - Quiroga, J A
AU  - Quiroga JA
FAU - Carreno, V
AU  - Carreno V
LA  - eng
PT  - Clinical Trial
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Multicenter Study
PT  - Randomized Controlled Trial
PL  - United States
TA  - J Interferon Cytokine Res
JT  - Journal of interferon & cytokine research : the official journal of the 
      International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research
JID - 9507088
RN  - 0 (Antiviral Agents)
RN  - 77238-31-4 (Interferon-beta)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Antiviral Agents/adverse effects/*therapeutic use
MH  - Chronic Disease
MH  - Female
MH  - Hepatitis C/*therapy
MH  - Humans
MH  - Injections, Subcutaneous
MH  - Interferon-beta/adverse effects/*therapeutic use
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Treatment Outcome
EDAT- 1997/02/01 00:00
MHDA- 1997/02/01 00:01
CRDT- 1997/02/01 00:00
PHST- 1997/02/01 00:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 1997/02/01 00:01 [medline]
PHST- 1997/02/01 00:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1089/jir.1997.17.65 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Interferon Cytokine Res. 1997 Feb;17(2):65-7. doi: 10.1089/jir.1997.17.65.