Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0023890 (cirrhosis)
 42,195 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Twenty-one of 40 patients with chronic non-A, non-B hepatitis (37 anti-HCV positive) were randomised to receive interferon alpha 2b (3 million units subcutaneously thrice weekly for 24 weeks) and then to be observed for six months. Among the other 19 patients (controls) randomised to be observed without treatment for 12 months, eight have subsequently been treated with interferon for six months. One treated patient and three controls were lost to follow-up. A return to normal serum alanine aminotransferase levels which lasted until the end of the treatment period occurred in 18 (64%) of the 28 patients given interferon (and in 13 of 21 (62%) randomised to treatment), but only in one of the 16 untreated controls (p less than 0.001). Multivariant analysis indicated that, compared with the ten nonresponders, the 18 patients who responded to interferon were more likely to have acquired infection by intravenous drug abuse than by blood transfusion (p less than 0.05), and were more likely to have histologically less severe chronic liver disease (p less than 0.01). Thus, all 13 patients with less severe liver disease histologically responded to interferon, but only five of 15 patients with cirrhosis or bridging fibrosis responded. Among 17 responders followed for more than four months, five (28%) are still in remission a median of 13 months (range four months to 24 months) after stopping interferon. The characteristics which favoured a response during treatment also appeared to distinguish those who experienced sustained post-treatment remission.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:Can the response to interferon treatment be predicted in patients with chronic active hepatitis C? 195 24

Ten patients were given 3MU/3 times/week of r-interferon alpha 2b for 4 months; six patients were given 1MU/3 times/week for 4 months. The choice of these regimes has been based on the number of platelets. Among the patients treated with 9MU/week we observed a type I response (alanine-aminotransferases normalization) in 40% of cases, a type II (ALT fifty percent reduction) in 40% of cases, and a type III (no response) in 20% of cases. Among the patients treated with 3MU/week we observed a type II response in 16.7% and a type III in 83.3% of cases. Treatment of Child A liver cirrhosis with r-interferon demonstrates to rise, therefore, the same percentage of response which are obtained in the treatment of chronic active hepatitis, when the same doses are administered (9MU/week).
 ...
PMID:[Interferon therapy in liver cirrhosis]. 846 87

Severe recurrent cholestatic hepatitis C after liver transplantation has a poor prognosis and no standard therapy is currently available. Four cases of severe recurrent cholestatic hepatitis C treated with a combination of interferon alpha 2b and ribavirin are described. All four patients were transplanted for hepatitis C-related cirrhosis. The mean age at transplantation was 45 years (range 41-51 years). Three of the patients were male and one was female. All four patients had hepatitis C virus viremia before and after liver transplantation. At 2 to 23 months after liver transplantation, all four patients developed jaundice, cholestatic elevation of liver enzymes, and histopathology consistent with severe recurrent cholestatic hepatitis C. Combination of interferon and ribavirin was given with prompt virological suppression. Despite this rapid viral suppression, all four patients developed progressive graft failure with three deaths.
 ...
PMID:Interferon alpha 2B and ribavirin in severe recurrent cholestatic hepatitis C. 1139 Dec 41

Pulmonary complications of alpha interferon are rare. We report two cases of lung complications in liver transplantation patients for HCV related cirrhosis. After switching from interferon alpha to pegylated interferon alpha 2b, one patient developed a BOOP (Bronchiolitis Obliterans Organizing Pneumonia) and the other severe interstitial pneumonitis. We discuss the causes of these rare pulmonary alpha-interferon induced complications and the different way to suggest that the pegylated interferon alpha 2b could be related to the risk of pulmonary toxicity of this treatment.
 ...
PMID:[Induced interstitial pneumonitis: role of pegylated interferon alpha 2b]. 1207 Apr 14

Patients with recurrent hepatitis C (HCV) after liver transplantation (OLT) are often treated with interferon and ribavirin in an attempt to eradicate HCV and prevent cirrhosis. We report four patients who developed de novo cryptogenic hepatitis following sustained eradication of recurrent HCV, which led to decompensated liver disease in two patients, both of whom required listing for retransplantation. Between September 2000 and October 2001, 38 consecutive patients with recurrent HCV were treated with interferon alpha 2b and ribavirin, of whom eight patients (21%) developed a sustained response to HCV eradication. Four of these patients developed cryptogenic hepatitis, which led to decompensated cirrhosis in two patients. Both patients were listed for retransplantation but died on the waiting list. No etiology for liver disease was identified despite extensive investigations in all four patients including postmortem analysis in the two patients. We hypothesize that these individuals developed an aberrant immune response leading to allograft injury whose severity may be determined by underlying haplotype, degree of immunosuppression, presence/absence of HCV, and duration of treatment. We have not found any similar reports in the literature but anticipate more cases to be reported given the universal use of antiviral therapy for recurrent HCV.
 ...
PMID:De novo cryptogenic hepatitis after sustained eradication of hepatitis C following liver transplantation. 1525 68

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is increasingly being reported in immunocompromised patients and particularly organ transplant recipients. In this context, HEV infection frequently evolves to chronic infection with a rapid progression of fibrosis to cirrhosis. Ribavirin monotherapy and a minimization of immunosuppression represent the treatment of choice, with a good response rate. However, no data are available on whether treatment can achieve a regression of liver fibrosis in chronic HEV patients. A 57-year-old male patient received a liver transplant for alcoholic cirrhosis and, 6 years later, developed biopsy-proven chronic HEV infection. The patient received different antiviral therapy regimens (pegylated interferon alpha 2b and ribavirin different dosages, and long-term treatment with ribavirin monotherapy still ongoing) but without achieving a sustained virological response. Liver function parameters normalized after 1 month of treatment but without the clearance of HEV. Hepatitis E virus RNA levels also remained detectable in the serum and stools throughout ribavirin monotherapy. No serious adverse events were reported. A gradual regression of liver fibrosis was reported (Metavir A0/F1 in 2015 versus A3/F4 in 2008). Long-term treatment with ribavirin is safe in liver transplant recipients, without achieving HEV sustained virological response, and may induce a biopsy-proven regression of liver fibrosis in a liver transplant recipient with cirrhosis after chronic HEV infection.
 ...
PMID:Chronic Hepatitis E Viral Infection After Liver Transplantation: A Regression of Fibrosis After Antiviral Therapy. 2913 58