Combination therapy with interferon and ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C infection in beta-thalassaemia major

Treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus [HCV] infection in transfusion-dependent betathalassaemia major patients is complicated by existing hepatic siderosis and the fear of ribavirinassociated haemolysis. We evaluated the efficacy and side-effects of combination interferon-alpha [INF] and ribavirin therapy for HCV-infected thalassaemia patients. A total of 17 patients were enrolled [10 nonresponders to INF monotherapy, 7 naive to treatment, mean age 23.1 years] and they received 12 months of combination therapy. The sustained virological response rate 6 months after treatment was 58.8%. Blood transfusion requirements during treatment temporarily increased by 36.6%. Combination therapy was tolerated by, and may be useful for, HCV-infected thalassaemia major patients

Assessment the diagnostic validity and the relationship between urinary fsh and serum fsh in menopausic and non-menopausic women

Background and purpose: FSH [Follicle stimulating Hormone] is a glycopeptid hormone released from anterior pituitary and is associated with ovarian function. Due to its daily and monthly cyclicity, successive sampling is used for certainty. Because of the kydney intervention in gradual releasing FSH, random and morning urinary sample was considered in menopausic and non-menopausic women

Methods and Materials: 50 woman with ages 35-60 years old participated in the study. The participants had not ured oral contraceptives, had normal renal function and were admitted for hysterectomy, due to benign illnesses, at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Sari, Iran. Frequcut sampling and random blood sample were taken a day before surgery by research aids blind to the participants menopausal status. FSH was measured through radio immunoassay and its correlation [gold standard] was obtained with each urinary sample in both groups. Sensitivity and specificity was studied

Results: Out of 47 cases admitted, 37 cases were monmenopausic with FSH less than 20 mlu/ml and 10 cases were menopausic with FSH more than 40 mlu/ml; 3 cases were ruled out because their FSH levels were not ascertained. FSh correlation with random and morning urinary samples were 31% and 84% respectiviely in nou-monopausic cases. In the second group, 68% and 77% were observed respectively. The sensitivity and specifity in random urine sample were 100% and 97% respectively; while in morning samples, they were both 100%

Conclusion: According to the findings, high correlations were observed between serum FSH and morning sample in menopausic cases, as well as with random sample. Also because of the satisfactory specificity and sensitivity of FSH measurement with urine samples, it is possible to replace floquent sampling with one morning sample in pathological and physiological instances. This method is non- invasive, simple and cheap