Preliminary study of combination therapy with
interferon-alpha and zinc in chronic hepatitis C patients with
genotype 1b. <br>Nagamine T, Takagi H, Takayama H, Kojima
A, Kakizaki S, Mori M, Nakajima K.
<br><br>Department of Health Science, Gunma University School of
Medicine, Maebashi, Japan. <br><br>We have evaluated the
efficacy of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) plus zinc therapy
in hepatitis C patients with genotype 1b, poor
responders for IFN alone. Ten patients were injected with 10
MU of IFN-alpha every day for 4 wk, followed by
three times a week for 20 wk (control group). Nine
patients took 300 mg of zinc sulfate a day orally during
IFN-alpha therapy (zinc sulfate group), and 15 patients
took IFN-alpha and 150 mg of polaprezinc (polaprezinc
group). On the d 8 of IFN therapy, circadian zinc levels
in serum elevated significantly in the polaprezinc
group compared to the zinc sulfate group or control
group. Serum ALT levels normalized in 73.3% of the
polaprezinc group, 55.6% of the zinc sulfate group, and 40.0%
of the control group at 6 mo after the end of IFN
therapy. Sustained eradication for the hepatitis C virus
RNA judged at the end of the 6-mo follow-up period
was higher in the polaprezinc group than in the zinc
sulfate group (53.3% vs 11.1%, p &lt; 0.05) or the
control group (20.0%). No clinical side effects of zinc
were observed at the dose used. The data suggest that
polaprezinc is expected to increase the therapeutic response
of IFN-alpha for chronic hepatitis C with genotype
1b. <br><br>Publication Types: <br>Clinical trial
<br><br>PMID: 11051596 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]