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

慢性丙型肝炎患者正在接受评估， 确定这种常见慢性病的长期自然史 肝脏疾病这些患者的队列可用于评估 实验疗法先前的研究表明α干扰素 治疗在大约50%的患者中具有短期有益效果。 患者这种反应在停药后约有20%持续存在 干扰素一项随机、安慰剂对照的利巴韦林试验显示， 这种核苷类似物的1年疗程与 显著改善血清抗转氨酶活性， 肝小叶坏死，尽管血清HCV RNA水平不变。 持续利巴韦林治疗长达2年证明， 长期抑制疗法在该病中的实用性。一 利巴韦林和干扰素联合的对照试验已经 设计了

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.