Last Updated: April 08, 2011.
Predictive model indicates virus particles could be cleared in seven weeks assuming high compliance
Analysis of the kinetics of telaprevir treatment for hepatitis C virus shows a rapid second-phase viral decline, which may allow for shorter duration of treatment, according to a study published online March 7 in Hepatology.
FRIDAY, April 8 (HealthDay News) -- Analysis of the kinetics of telaprevir treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) shows a rapid second-phase viral decline, which may allow for shorter duration of treatment, according to a study published online March 7 in Hepatology.
Jeremie Guedj, Ph.D., and Alan S. Perelson, Ph.D., from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, examined second-phase HCV viral decline during treatment with telaprevir. Two aspects of telaprevir treatment were investigated: the effect of varying regimens of telaprevir monotherapy in 28 participants, and the comparison of telaprevir monotherapy in eight patients with telaprevir plus interferon therapy in eight patients. Using a new viral kinetic model, and assuming that drug resistance can be avoided, the treatment time needed to eliminate all virus and infected cells was estimated.
The investigators found that the second-phase viral decline was associated with the effectiveness of treatment, and was approximately four times more rapid with telaprevir than interferon-based therapies. In the predictive model, assuming 95 percent of the patients are fully compliant, the last virus particle could be eliminated within seven weeks, and the clearance of remaining infections in the hepatocytes by no more than 10 weeks. This time would be extended if doses were missed.
"Using a new viral kinetic model that allowed for an improved description of the changes in antiviral treatment effectiveness, the second phase of viral decay was found to be very rapid compared with second phases observed in patients treated with interferon alone, with no differences according to the treatment regimen," the authors write.
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