ABSTRACT
Treatment of chronic hepatitis C is still unspecific. However, there is great expectancy concerning the new pegylated interferons. As there has been much controversy about the best parameters to determine whether treatment is effective, we analyzed several criteria currently used for evaluation, including serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) normalization, viral load reduction and improvement of hepatic histology.
Subject(s)
Drug Evaluation/methods , Drug Evaluation/standards , Hepatitis C, Chronic/blood , Hepatitis C, Chronic/drug therapy , Alanine Transaminase/blood , Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use , Hepacivirus/genetics , Hepacivirus/isolation & purification , Hepatitis C, Chronic/virology , Humans , Interferons/therapeutic use , Liver/pathology , Liver/virology , Viral LoadABSTRACT
Treatment of chronic hepatitis C is still unspecific. However, there is great expectancy concerning the new pegylated interferons. As there has been much controversy about the best parameters to determine whether treatment is effective, we analyzed several criteria currently used for evaluation, including serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) normalization, viral load reduction and improvement of hepatic histology.