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JMD 2005, Vol. 7, No. 4
Copyright © 2005 American Society for Investigative Pathology & Association for Molecular Pathology

Percentage of Hepatitis C Virus-Infected Hepatocytes Is a Better Predictor of Response Than Serum Viremia Levels

Elena Rodríguez-Iñigo, Juan Manuel López-Alcorocho, Javier Bartolomé, Nuria Ortiz-Movilla, Margarita Pardo and Vicente Carreño

From the Fundación para el Estudio de las Hepatitis Virales, Madrid, Spain

Pegylated {alpha}-interferon plus ribavirin is the current therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Serum HCV-RNA concentration before treatment has been identified as an independent predictive factor of response. We have compared the percentage of HCV-infected hepatocytes with the concentration of serum HCV-RNA in baseline samples as predictors of response. We included 97 patients with chronic HCV infection (genotype 1), treated with pegylated-interferon-{alpha}2b plus ribavirin. Of these 97, 38 (39%) were sustained responders and 59 (61%) were not. Statistical differences between responders and nonresponders were found regarding the percentage of infected hepatocytes (6.83 ± 4.50% versus 13.44 ± 10.05%; P = 0.00003) but not in serum HCV-RNA concentration [1.71 ± 2.70 (x106 IU/L) versus 1.32 ± 1.86 (x106 IU/L); P = 0.40694]. Other factors associated with response were age, {gamma}-glutamyl transpeptidase level, and absence of previous therapy. Logistic regression demonstrated that percentage of infected hepatocytes (odds ratio, 1.160; 95% confidence interval, 1.065–1.264) and previous therapy (odds ratio, 0.294; 95% confidence interval, 0.109–0.795) were significant predictive factors for response. Therefore, the percentage of infected hepatocytes in liver biopsy before treatment is a better predictive factor of sustained response to 48 weeks of therapy with pegylated {alpha}-interferon plus ribavirin than serum HCV-RNA concentration in baseline serum sample.




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Cellular immune responses associated with occult hepatitis C virus infection of the liver.
J. Virol., November 1, 2006; 80(22): 10972 - 10979.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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Copyright © 2005 by the American Society for Investigative Pathology and the Association for Molecular Pathology.