ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the efficacy and safety of telaprevir combined with peginterferon alfa (Peg-IFNa) plus ribavirin (RBV) (collectively, TPR therapy) in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) using a meta-analysis approach.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The Pubmed literature database was searched for randomized controlled trials of TRP therapy in CHC patients published between 2009 and 2011. The following outcome data was extracted for meta-analysis of efficacy: sustained virological response (SVR), defined as serum HCV RNA of less than 1000 copies/ml at end-of-treatment (week 24); rapid virological response (RVR), defined as serum HCV RNA of less than 1000 copies/ml at treatment week 4; recurrence, defined as serum HCV RNA of less than 1000 copies/mL at end-of-treatment and more than 1000 copies/ml at follow-up (week 24 after treatment completion). The pooled odds ratio (OR) or relative risk (RR) were calculated, with 95% confidence interval (CI). Heterogeneity was assessed by the Chi-squared test based on the Q statistic.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Six studies of TPR triple therapy, representing a total of 2677 CHC patients, were included in the meta-analysis. Among the 1850 patients who received TPR, 56.3% (n = 1041) achieved RVR, 66.8% (n = 1235) achieved SVR, and 12.1% (n = 176/1460) experienced recurrence. Among the 827 patients who received PR double-therapy, 7.0% (n = 58) achieved RVR, 35.8% (n = 296) achieved SVR, and 32.3% (n = 145/449) experienced recurrence. The TRP group had significantly higher rates of RVR (OR = 29.83, 95% CI: 16.16 to 55.05) and SVR (OR = 3.97, 95% CI: 2.58 to 6.11) than the PR group (both P less than 0.01), and significantly lower rate of recurrence (RR = 0.36, 95% CI: 0.24 to 0.56, P less than 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The therapeutic effect of research group is better than that of control group, suggesting that ornithine aspartate combined with naloxone treatment in hepatic encephalopathy is worthy of promoting.</p>