γ‐Glutamyltransferase and rapid virological response as predictors of successful treatment with experimental or standard peginterferon‐α‐2b in chronic hepatitis C non‐responders

Abstract

Retreatment with PegIFN-alpha-2b and ribavirin for a minimum of 48 weeks should be considered in all patients unresponsive to previous IFN-based therapies. Baseline GGT values and RVR are highly predictive for retreatment outcome.

The determination of GGT is the most reliable predictor of nonresponsiveness to interferon-alpha based therapy in HCV type-1 infection

“…Interestingly, we also found that low GGT levels together with high baseline alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were important baseline factors for SVR [11].These intriguing observations were also made in other studies [12,13].…”

A Lower Serum Gamma-Glutamyltransferase Level Does Not Predict a Sustained Virological Response in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Genotype 1

“…Since it has been shown that RVR was one of the most important predictors of a SVR,8,9,11,13-15 this result of the present study was not interesting.…”

“…In some studies, low baseline GGT level was shown to be an independent predictor of a SVR 9-11,13,15,17. However, these studies did not fully evaluate other confounding factors, such as the presence of hepatosteatosis,19,21,22 bile duct injury,19,23 the degree of liver fibrosis,11,20 alcohol abuse,18,24 and gender,17 which might affect both GGT levels and SVR rates.…”

Common variation of IL28 affects gamma-GTP levels and inflammation of the liver in chronically infected hepatitis C virus patients

“…However, when we analyzed the relation between the IL28 allele and histological findings or core amino acid substitutions in only treatment-naïve patients, the results were unchanged, suggesting that the results obtained in this study are applicable without regard to history of interferon therapy. Interestingly, the IL28 genotype was also associated with gamma-GTP levels and core amino acid substitutions, both of which are known to be predictive of response to interferon and ribavirin combination therapy [7,8,24]. The levels of liver enzymes such as ALT, AST, and gamma-GTP are usually higher in patients with high inflammatory activity.…”