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Influence of Ribavirin Serum Levels on Outcome of Antiviral Treatment and Anemia in Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Please always quote using this URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-166888
  • Background Ribavirin blood levels vary considerably between patients with standard weight-based dosing. Their impact on sustained virological response (SVR) with pegylated interferon and ribavirin is controversial, but has mostly been studied before the IL28b gene polymorphism as a possible confounder was discovered. Methods The impact of serum ribavirin trough levels at week 4, at the end of treatment and of mean levels across the entire antiviral treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin on relapse, SVR rates and anemia wasBackground Ribavirin blood levels vary considerably between patients with standard weight-based dosing. Their impact on sustained virological response (SVR) with pegylated interferon and ribavirin is controversial, but has mostly been studied before the IL28b gene polymorphism as a possible confounder was discovered. Methods The impact of serum ribavirin trough levels at week 4, at the end of treatment and of mean levels across the entire antiviral treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin on relapse, SVR rates and anemia was retrospectively studied by univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses in 214 patients with HCV genotype 1–4 infection, including 88 patients with available IL28b genotyping. Results Mean ribavirin levels varied between 0.68–5.65 mg/l and significantly differed between patients with or without SVR. By multivariable regression including age, sex, HCV viral load, HCV genotype, liver fibrosis stage, prior treatments, immunosuppression and IL28b genotype, ribavirin levels consistently displayed significant influence on SVR and relapse without indication for a specific importance of higher concentrations early or late in the treatment course. Although hemoglobin decline was on average more pronounced in patients with higher ribavirin levels, hemoglobin remained relatively stable in a significant proportion of these, indicating that ribavirin levels alone are insufficient to predict anemia. Conclusion While data are scarce to draw conclusions applicable for modern DAA therapies, these results support ribavirin treatment based on serum levels instead of purely weight-based dosing in combination with pegylated interferon.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Author: Thomas Kuntzen, Sereina Kuhn, Daniela Kuntzen, Burkhardt Seifert, Beat Müllhaupt, Andreas Geier
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-166888
Document Type:Journal article
Faculties:Medizinische Fakultät / Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik II
Language:English
Parent Title (English):PLoS ONE
Year of Completion:2016
Volume:11
Issue:7
Pagenumber:e0158512
Source:PLoS ONE 11(7):e0158512 (2016). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0158512
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0158512
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Tag:Hepatitis C; anemia; antiviral treatment; ribavirin serum levels
Release Date:2019/07/31
Licence (German):License LogoCC BY: Creative-Commons-Lizenz: Namensnennung 4.0 International