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Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C Infection with Interferon α-2 a in a Turkish Population

Recombinant interferon (IFN) α has been shown to normalize the aminotransferase levels in approximately half of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Twenty four patients with chronic HCV infection were treated with IFN α-2a subcutaneously, three times a week for 6 months. All patients responded to IFN therapy with a decrease of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level. Thirteen out of 24 cases (54.2%) had normal ALT levels at the end of the sixth month of therapy. However, four of these complete responders (30.8%) relapsed during the 12 month follow-up. Relapse was high in the partial responder group (45.5%). Overall relapse rate was 37.5% at 6 months. HCV genotype II, which is associated with a low response rate to IFN was prevalent (85 – 87%) in our patient population. This study shows that interferon therapy can be effective in reducing transaminase levels in patients with chronic hepatitis C in a population with a high prevalence of HCV type II. The relapse rate after discontinuation of treatment, however, remains a problem.