Endogenous interferon-α concentration and outcome of interferon treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C

To verify its value with regard to the outcome of therapy in chronic hepatitis C, serum interferon-α (IFN) was measured by ELISA in 70 patients (43 male, 27 female) with chronic hepatitis C, treated with IFN 9 MU/week subcutaneously for up to one year. Serum IFN was detectable in 49/70 patients, 16 of whom had IFN values > 125 pg/ml. Only 1/22 patients who maintained a sustained response six months after the end of treatment had pretreatment serum IFN > 125 pg/ml, in comparison to 15/48 patients who did not respond or who relapsed (χ² 6.1, P < 0.02). At multivariate analysis the predictive value of serum IFN was independent of age, sex, presence of cirrhosis, infection by genotype 1b (improvement χ² 7.1, P < 0.01). In patients with chronic hepatitis C, measurement of serum IFN at baseline might be useful for the selection of patients with higher probability of long-term response.