Are anti-interferon antibodies the cause of failure in: chronic HCV hepatitis treatment?

Abstract

A follow-up study was made of 94 chronic hepatitis C patients at a hepatitis clinic in Brazil, after interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) therapy, to determine the influence of anti-interferon antibodies on treatment outcome. Patients diagnosed as having chronic hepatitis C, confirmed by PCR (HCV RNA) and liver biopsy, were treated with interferon alpha 2a or 2b for at least six months, and were followed up for 24 weeks after termination of treatment in order to assess biochemical, virological and clinical pathology responses. Only 6% of the 94 patients developed anti-IFN antibodies, 70% presented a biochemical response and 23% maintained a sustained virological response. Clinical evaluation revealed that in only 2 patients was there progression of fibrosis; the necro-inflammatory score indicated that 72% maintained the same activity, 12% had worsening necro-inflammatory activity, and the remaining 16% had decreased activity. There was no significant correlation of demographic and laboratory variables with levels of anti-interferon antibodies. Similarly, biochemical and virological responses were not influenced by anti-interferon antibodies. Multivariate analysis by logistic regression revealed that clinical pathological parameters, staging and necro-inflammatory activity did not influence the response to the virus.

Prevalence and therapeutic significance of anti-interferon antibodies in hepatitis C virus/HIV-co-infected patients

“…In contrast, other reports have not confirmed those findings [13][14][15][16]. In a recent study conducted in HCV-monoinfected patients, only a reduced proportion (8%) of them developed anti-IFNAb during treatment; however, none cleared HCV with interferon therapy [17].…”

Chronic hepatitis C treatment outcomes in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Further, subgroup analyses showed that the best outcomes were achieved in studies in which patients were either predominantly HIV-negative (HIV−), predominantly infected with an HCV genotype other than 1 or 4, or treated with ribavirin. The proportion of patients who achieved an SVR in the 20 studies that included patients with all three of these characteristics ranged from 45% (95% CI: 34-55) 70 to 78% (95% CI: 61-91) 71 and the pooled proportion was 65% (95% CI: [61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68]. The presence of the interleukin-28B polymorphism was associated with a high SVR rate in the two studies which reported relevant data.…”

B-1 cells and naturally occurring antibodies: influencing the immunogenicity of recombinant human therapeutic proteins?

“…Nevertheless, the relationship between NAs and higher incidences of therapy failure when treated with the self-antigen as a therapeutic remains weak [49].…”