Quantitation of HCV viraemia by branched DNA signal amplification in patients treated with α-interferon — A longitudinal study

Abstract

Using bDNA, the plasma viral load trend of HCV-infected patients undergoing IFN therapy was analyzed. Nine patients were enrolled, each assigned to one of three groups, based on IFN response as determined by ALT and AST level trend. HCV was genotyped using DEIA. Each patient's clinical stage was determined by liver biopsy analysis. In nonresponding patients elevated viral loads and biochemical parameters were observed. These values were not influenced by IFN treatment. In relapsed patients the cessation of IFN treatment increased viral load; this was associated with a rise in ALT and AST values. In responders ALT and AST levels remained normal; viral load was low. Patients with elevated HCV viral load showed a worsening in their liver histology during the follow-up period. These results confirm that plasma viral load is a good marker of biochemical change and disease progression.

Different Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) RNA Load Profiles Following Seroconversion among Injecting Drug Users without Correlation with HCV Genotype and Serum Alanine Aminotransferase Levels

“…When parenchymal liver cells are damaged, aminotransferases leak from the liver into the blood, resulting in elevated levels of aminotransferases. Normalization of serum ALT levels after treatment with interferon (IFN) for 6 months is conventionally considered to indicate treatment efficacy (15), although half of the untreated patients with chronic HCV infections have normal or minimally elevated serum ALT levels (6). In the present study, we quantified HCV RNA in serum samples from 19 HCV seroconverters longitudinally and measured serum ALT levels at three different time points to assess the course of HCV infection.…”