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Dig Dis Sci 1997 Aug;42(8):1681-1687
Treatment of chronic Hepatitis C with amantadine.
Smith JP
Department of Medicine, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Pennsylvania State University,
Hershey 17033, USA.
Treatment of chronic Hepatitis C infection with interferon has been disappointing,
with less than one third of patients achieving a sustained response and most experiencing
significant side effects. For these reasons, an open-labeled prospective pilot
study was conducted to test the safety and efficacy of the antiviral drug, amantadine,
in patients with chronic Hepatitis C infection who had previously failed therapy
with interferon-alpha 2b. Twenty-two patients with chronic Hepatitis C were enrolled
into the study and treated with amantadine 100 mg orally twice daily for six months.
Control groups included the same cohort followed off therapy for 29-36 months
or during therapy with interferon. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) values
decreased in 64% (P = 0.01) of patients with amantadine therapy compared to intervals
without therapy or to interferon therapy. Twenty-seven percent of patients treated
with amantadine had normalization of ALT values and loss of HCV RNA after six
months while 18% achieved a sustained response with loss of HCV RNA by PCR six
months after discontinuation of amantadine. Therapy with amantadine improved both
biochemical and virological markers in patients with Hepatitis C who had previously
not responded to treatment with interferon.
PMID: 9286234, UI: 97432335
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