Short-course Pegylated Interferon for Acute Hepatitis C

Acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection resolves spontaneously without treatment in a minority of patients. Past studies have shown that early treatment with interferon-based therapy during the acute phase (the first 6 months) produces high sustained response rates, but an optimal treatment strategy has not yet been defined.

As described in the February 2007 Journal of Viral Hepatitis, Italian researchers conducted a multicenter open-label study to investigate the therapeutic performance of a short course of pegylated interferon-alpha in patients with acute HCV infection. A total of 46 participants were treated with 1.0-1.5 mcg/kg/week pegylated interferon alpha-2b (PegIntron) for 12 weeks.
 

 Results

	Treatment was started within 1-90 days of reaching peak alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels.
	11 of the patients had jaundice.
	33 of 46 patients (72%) achieved sustained virological response (SVR) after a 6-month post-treatment follow-up period.
	8 subjects (17%) relapsed after the completion of treatment.
	4 (9%) were non-responders (9%).
	Factors that predicted SVR were: - lower peak HCV viral load; - receiving at least 1.2 mcg/kg/week of pegylated interferon; - undetectable HCV-RNA at week 4 and at week 12.
	Treatment was well tolerated, with only 1 dropout (2%).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the authors wrote, "in patients with early (week 4) viral response, a short course of [pegylated interferon alpha], at a weekly dose > 1.2 mcg/kg, may be a valuable option for the treatment of acute HCV hepatitis."

G Calleri, G Cariti, F Gaiottino, and others. A short course of pegylated interferon-alpha in acute HCV hepatitis. Journal of Viral Hepatitis 14(2): 116-121. February 2007.