STUDIES OF THE NATURAL HISTORY AND TREATMENT OF CHRONIC TYPE C HEPATITIS

有充分证据的慢性丙型肝炎患者正在接受评估 来确定这种常见的 慢性肝病 这些患者的队列可用于 评估实验性疗法。 以前的研究已经表明 α-干扰素治疗在以下方面具有短期有益效果： 约50%的患者。 这一反应持续在 在停止干扰素治疗后约为20%。 一个随机的，安慰剂- 利巴韦林的对照试验表明，1年的疗程 核苷类似物与显著改善 血清转氨酶活性和肝小叶坏死 尽管血清HCV RNA水平不变。 连续利巴韦林 长达2年的治疗证明了长期的实用性 这种疾病的抑制疗法。 一项对照试验 已经设计了利巴韦林和干扰素的组合。

Patients with well-documented chronic hepatitis C are being evaluated to determine the long-term natural history of this common form of chronic liver disease. A cohort of such patients are available to evaluate experimental therapies. Previous studies have shown that alpha interferon therapy has a short-term beneficial effect in approximately 50% of patients. This response is sustained in approximately 20% after stopping interferon. A randomized, placebo- controlled trial of ribavirin showed that a 1 year course of this nucleoside analogue is associated with significant improvement in serum aminotransferase activities and in hepatic lobular necrosis despite unchanged serum levels of HCV RNA. Continous ribavirin therapy for up to 2 years demonstrates the practicality of long term supressive therapy in this disease. A controlled trial of the combination of ribavirin and interferon has been designed.