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Psychopathological symptoms during interferon-α and ribavirin treatment: effects on virologic response

Molecular Psychiatry volume 10, pages 332–333 (2005)Cite this article

SIR—Interferon-α (IFN-α), the most effective treatment for chronic hepatitis by virus C (HCV), induces depression, anxiety, and fatigue.1, 2, 3 We report here that depression and anxiety have different time courses compared to fatigue, and that patients experiencing more severe fatigue are less likely to respond to IFN-α by clearing the virus.

We studied all patients who started pegylated IFN-α (pegIFN-α-2b, 1.5 μg/kg, weekly, s.c.) and ribavirin (400 mg, b.d.) between February and July 2001: n=29, 23 males and six females; 23 Caucasians; mean (SD) age 43±7 years; 16 virus genotype 1, 13 virus genotype non-1. All subjects were HCV RNA positive, with histological evidence, by liver biopsy, of moderate or severe HCV-related injury. Treatment lasted 24 weeks for genotype non-1, and 48 weeks for genotype 1. In all, 18 patients (64%; one subject was lost to follow-up) were identified as sustained virologic responders, as indicated by serum HCV RNA undetectable (<100 copies/ml, Roche Amplicor System) at 24 weeks after the end of treatment. Approval was received from Kings College Hospital Research Ethics committee.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Maudsley Hospital, London, UK

    C Maddock

  2. Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK

    S Landau, M Hotopf, A J Cleare & C M Pariante

  3. Institute of Liver Studies, King's College London, London, UK

    K Barry, P Maulayah & S Norris

Authors
  1. C Maddock
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  2. S Landau
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  3. K Barry
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  4. P Maulayah
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  5. M Hotopf
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  6. A J Cleare
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  7. S Norris
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  8. C M Pariante
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to C M Pariante.

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Maddock, C., Landau, S., Barry, K. et al. Psychopathological symptoms during interferon-α and ribavirin treatment: effects on virologic response. Mol Psychiatry 10, 332–333 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001634

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