Search results for "INTERFERON-ALPHA"
showing 10 items of 211 documents
Clinical significance of abdominal lymphadenopathy in chronic liver disease
2002
Abstract The possibility of assessing the relationship of ultrasound (US)-detected abdominal lymphadenopathy with etiology, biochemical findings, and histologic data in patients with chronic liver disease was evaluated. US examination of the upper abdomen was performed in 321 consecutive patients with various chronic liver disorders and 56 control patients. The prevalence of lymphadenopathy in chronic liver disease was 38%. This prevalence varied according to etiology of liver disease, from 50% in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) to less than 10% in alcoholicc cirrhosis and hepatitis B-virus (HBV)-related chronic liver disease. Patients with lymphadenopathy showed significantly higher serum …
Assessment of hepatitis C virus-RNA clearance under combination therapy for hepatitis C virus genotype 1: performance of transcription-mediated ampli…
2007
Monitoring of HCV-RNA in blood during antiviral therapy is performed mostly by commercially available reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction-based (RT-PCR) assays, with a lower detection limit of 30-50 IU/mL of HCV-RNA. Use of different tests in the pivotal trials of combination therapy has generated some discordance, in terms of predictive value of the early virological response (EVR). To evaluate whether the use of a more sensitive test, as a qualitative assay based on transcription mediated amplification (TMA) with a lower detection limit of 5-10 IU/mL of HCV-RNA, may obtain a better prediction of EVR and of the ultimate virological outcome, we retrospectively evaluated serial s…
Comparative responses to three different types of interferon-α in patients with chronic hepatitis C
1999
We investigated the efficacy and tolerability of three different types of interferon-alpha, administered with the same schedule to naive patients with chronic hepatitis C. One hundred and seven patients with histologically proven chronic hepatitis C were enrolled during a period of three years and randomly divided into three groups, to receive (a) leukocyte-interferon-alpha, 6 MU three times a week for 4 months, followed by 3 MU three times a week for 8 months (Group I); (b) recombinant-IFN-alpha-2a, with the same schedule (Group II); and (c) lymphoblastoid-IFN-alpha-N1, with the same schedule (Group III). All patients were followed-up for 6 months to evaluate the long-term response. The 'C…
Antiproliferative effect of interferons on human prostate carcinoma cell lines.
1989
The effect of purified human fibroblast beta-interferon (B-IFN) and recombinant alpha-2b-interferon (A-IFN) on cell proliferation was investigated in two human prostate carcinoma cell lines, named PC-3 and DU-145. Both cell lines respond to the antiproliferative action of interferon, B-IFN being more effective than A-IFN. PC-3 is more sensitive than DU-145 cell line, showing 95% inhibition of cell proliferation at the highest concentration of B-IFN. As interferons, besides reducing cell growth, are able to modify steroid receptor content in different hormone-sensitive human tumours, our results may be of some relevance as these drugs might be used to regulate both cell proliferation and hor…
Long-lasting remission of primary hepatic lymphoma and hepatitis C virus infection achieved by the alpha-interferon treatment
2004
Primary hepatic lymphoma is a rare but well-defined lymphoma entity that often pursues an aggressive clinical course. Most cases have been described in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related chronic liver disease patients. Although anthracycline-based chemotherapy has been reported to be highly effective, the best therapeutic strategy has not been defined yet. The prognosis is dismal especially in patients treated with chemotherapy alone or when an advanced liver disease is present. Herein, we describe a case of primary hepatic large B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, in a patient with HCV chronic infection. After a minor response with eight cycles of CHOP chemotherapy, a complete and sustained remiss…
ISDR pattern and evolution in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with standard or Peg-IFN plus ribavirin
2003
The aim of the study was to characterize the interferon sensitivity determining region (ISDR) mutation pattern and its changes at 4 weeks of treatment in a population of patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1b receiving standard or PEG-IFN plus ribavirin (RBV), to find possible early correlates of therapy outcome.Forty-five patients with chronic hepatitis due to HCV 1b were treated by PEG-IFN-α2b (n=23) or IFN-α2b (n=22) plus RBV 1000–1200 mg/day. They were classified 24 weeks after stopping therapy as sustained responders (SR), relapsers (REL) or non-responders (NR). Sixteen patients were SR, 12 REL and 17 NR. ISDR mutations were evaluated by direct sequencing at baselin…
Effects of Ribavirin Dose Reduction vs Erythropoietin for Boceprevir-Related Anemia in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 1 Infection—A…
2013
International audience; Background & AimsTreatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with boceprevir, peginterferon, and ribavirin can lead to anemia, which has been managed by reducing ribavirin dose and/or erythropoietin therapy. We assessed the effects of these anemia management strategies on rates of sustained virologic response (SVR) and safety.MethodsPatients (n = 687) received 4 weeks of peginterferon and ribavirin followed by 24 or 44 weeks of boceprevir (800 mg, 3 times each day) plus peginterferon and ribavirin. Patients who became anemic (levels of hemoglobin approximately ≤10 g/dL) during the study treatment period (n = 500) were assigned to groups that were managed by ribavi…
Hepatocytes of double-transgenic mice expressing high levels of hepatitis B virus e antigen and interferon-gamma are not injured by HBeAg specific au…
2000
Seroconversion from HBeAg to alphaHBe of persons chronically infected by HBV is usually associated with a transient exacerbation of liver disease and subsequent normalization of liver histology. It is speculated that these clinico-pathological features may be due to the activation of cytodestructive mechanisms by alphaHBe antibodies. The aim of the present study was to investigate the pathogenic potential of alphaHBe antibodies in a transgenic mouse model. Therefore, alphaHBe autoantibodies were elicited in double-transgenic mice expressing high amounts of HBeAg and interferon-gamma in the liver. Interferon-gamma has reviously been shown to play an important role in the development of hepat…
Mode of selection and experimental evolution of antiviral drugs resistance in vesicular stomatitis virus
2004
Abstract The possession of an antiviral resistance mutation benefits a virus when the corresponding antiviral is present. But does the resistant virus pay a fitness cost when the antiviral is absent? Would an evolutionary history of association between a genotype and a resistance mutation overcome this cost by changes compensating the harmful side-effect of resistance mutations? Are combined therapies more effective against the rise of resistant viruses or against evolutionary compensations? To explore all these questions, we took an experimental evolution approach. After selecting vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) populations able to replicate under increasing concentrations of ribavirin an…
The role of positive selection in hepatitis C virus
2008
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major health problem worldwide, infecting an estimated 170 million people. In this study, we have employed a large data set of sequences (14,654 sequences from between 25 and 100 clone sequences per analyzed region and per patient) from 67 patients infected with HCV genotype 1 (23 subtype 1a and 44 subtype 1b). For all patients, a sample prior to combined therapy with alpha interferon plus ribavirin was available, whereas for some patients additional samples after 6 or 12 months of treatment were also available. Twenty-seven patients responded to treatment (12 subtype 1a and 15 subtype 1b) and forty patients did not respond to treatment (11 subtype 1a vs. 29 sub…