Weight loss during pegylated interferon and ribavirin treatment of chronic
hepatitis C*

M. S. Seyam, D. A. Freshwater, K. O'Donnell and D. J. Mutimer
Summary. Treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with interferon
(IFN)-alpha, as monotherapy or in combination with ribavirin, is associated
with significant side-effects including weight loss. The aim of our study
was to describe the evolution of body weight during combination antiviral
treatment and to examine the possible determinants of weight loss. This was
a retrospective analysis of 126 patients who received combination therapy of
pegylated IFN-alpha-2b and ribavirin at our unit. Body weight was recorded
at each outpatient attendance during treatment and follow-up, and was
expressed as a percentage of baseline value. We observed a decline of body
weight during treatment. Median (range) weight values at 4, 12, 24, and 48
weeks (expressed as percentage of baseline weight) were 97.7 (91.5110.2),
95.4 (84.4109.4), 93.7 (80.8106.5), and 91.1 (80.1103.6) respectively. There
was no significant association of increased weight loss with age, gender,
pretreatment weight, ethnicity, pretreatment histological stage, cumulative
IFN dose (adjusted for body weight), HCV genotype or treatment outcome.
Median body weight returned to baseline within 6 months of stopping
treatment. Patients experience significant weight loss during combination
therapy. Those experiencing greater weight losses during therapy did not
benefit from improved antiviral response.




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