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Controlled Clinical Trial
. 2008 Nov;49(5):688-94.
doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2008.03.028. Epub 2008 Apr 29.

The HEP-NET B/C co-infection trial: A prospective multicenter study to investigate the efficacy of pegylated interferon-alpha2b and ribavirin in patients with HBV/HCV co-infection

Andrej Potthoff  1 , Heiner Wedemeyer, Wulf O Boecher, Thomas Berg, Stefan Zeuzem, Joachim Arnold, Ulrich Spengler, Kurt Gruengreiff, Thomas Kaeser, Marcus Schuchmann, Alexandra Bergk, Nicole Forestier, Katja Deterding, Michael P Manns, Christian Trautwein; Hep-Net B/C Co-infection Study Group
Collaborators, Affiliations
Controlled Clinical Trial

The HEP-NET B/C co-infection trial: A prospective multicenter study to investigate the efficacy of pegylated interferon-alpha2b and ribavirin in patients with HBV/HCV co-infection

Andrej Potthoff et al. J Hepatol. 2008 Nov.

Abstract

Background/aims: The efficacy of pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin in HBV/HCV co-infected patients is unknown.

Methods: Nineteen patients with chronic HBV/HCV co-infection (HBsAg and HCV-RNA positive; 10 HCV-genotype 1; 9 HCV-genotype 2 or 3) were included in this prospective multicenter pilot study. Baseline HBV-DNA was negative in 13 individuals. All patients received weight-adjusted PEG-IFN-alpha2b and ribavirin for 48 weeks.

Results: In the intent-to-treat analysis, a biochemical and an HCV-RNA response were observed in 12 and 14 patients, respectively (63% and 74%). At the end of the treatment as well as at the end of the follow-up the HCV-RNA response was 93% (14/15) in patients adherent to therapy (86% in genotype 1 and 100% in genotypes 2 and 3 infection). Two of the five initially HBV-DNA positive patients with follow-up available were HBV-DNA negative at follow-up week 24. In contrast, HBV-DNA became detectable after the clearance of HCV in four initially HBV-DNA negative patients.

Conclusions: Combination therapy with PEG-IFN-a2b and ribavirin is highly effective in inducing a virological response concerning HCV in patients with HBV/HCV co-infection. However, HBV replication may increase after the clearance of HCV and thus close monitoring for both the viruses is recommended even in patients with initially undetectable HBV-DNA.

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