The effects of prolonged treatment in children with chronic hepatitis B with combination of alpha-interferon and acyclovir

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of prolonged treatment in children with chronic hepatitis B with combination of alpha-interferon and acyclovir. The study population consisted of 7 patients with chronic hepatitis B who showed histological findings compatible with chronic active hepatitis (4 cases) or chronic persistent hepatitis (3 cases) on liver biopsy and had elevated AST and ALT with positive HBsAg, HBeAg and HBV-DNA for more than 6 months. Recombinant interferon-alpha-2 was given in a dose of 3 million IU/m2 daily for 3 months with acyclovir in a dose of 15mg/Kg of body weight every 12 hours for 7 days of each month for 3 months. Then, the same dose of interferon was given thrice a week for 9 more months. One patient who had vertically transmitted hepatitis B from her mother had received only 6 months of treatment in total as she did not show any effect after 6 months of treatment. Among 6 patients who had positive HBV-DNA on entry to the study, 4 patients (66.7%) showed conversion of HBV-DNA to negative. HBeAg was converted to negative in 3 patients (42.9%). AST and ALT became normal in 6 cases but HBsAg remained positive in all cases. prolonged treatment in children with chronic hepatitis B with combination of alpha interferon and acyclovir seems to be beneficial but the proper dosage and duration of therapy need to be determined with further and controlled study.