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 确定这种常见形式的慢性病的长期自然病史 肝病。有一组这样的患者可以进行评估 实验性疗法。先前的研究表明，α干扰素 治疗对大约50%的患者有短期的有益效果 病人。此响应在停止后保持约20% 干扰素。一项利巴韦林的随机、安慰剂对照试验显示 这种核苷类似物的1年病程与 血清抗转氨酶活性显著改善，并在 尽管血清中丙型肝炎病毒核糖核酸水平没有变化，但肝小叶坏死。 利巴韦林连续治疗长达2年证明 长期抑制疗法在本病中的实用性。一个 利巴韦林和干扰素联合应用的对照试验 都是设计好的。

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 antinotransferase activities and in hepatic lobular necrosis despite unchanged serum levels of HCV RNA. Continuous ribavirin therapy for up to 2 years demonstrates the practicality of long term suppresssive therapy in this disease. A controlled trial of the combination of ribavirin and interferon has been designed.