الفهرس 
Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)Only 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
At the present time, the optimal regimen for chronic HCV infection appears to be the combination of pegylated Interferon alpha and Ribavirin which yield sustained virological response (SVR) rate of about 55%.
The main aim of this study is evaluation of pretreatment serum ferritin levels as a predictor for early & rapid virological response in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients receiving combined pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin therapy.
This study was conducted on 70 patients with CHC virus infection. All patients were subjected to full history taking. Thorough clinical examination. Continuous monitoring of liver profile (to detect elevation of liver enzymes). Continuous monitoring of iron profile. Monitoring of the viral response one and 12 months (4 and 12 weeks) of the treatment by the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) of the viral RNA.
The study included 70 patients divided:
A. According to RVR:
• Thirty seven patients who achieved rapid virological response.
• Thirty three patients who didn’t achieve rapid virological response.
B. According to EVR:
• Fourty six patients who achieved Early Virological Response.
• Twenty four patients who didn’t achieve Early Virological Response.
In our study, we found that the level of pretreatment serum ferritin has no impact on either rapid virological response or early virological response. In contrast, we found that the highest value for serum ferritin during the first 12 weeks of the antiviral therapy was higher in the EVR group when compared to the non EVR with significant statistical difference.
It is speculated that serum ferritin levels during therapy are an indirect marker for interferon effects, the greater the serum ferritin level, the greater the interferon effect, and indeed in our study it was demonstrated that patients who had early virological response had higher on-treatment serum ferritin levels during the first 12 weeks of treatment.
As regard the viral load, we’ve found that lower pretreatment viral load is an indicator of better rates of response at week 4 of treatment using the combined therapy.