Tongue and skin hyperpigmentation during PEG-interferon-alpha/ribavirin therapy in dark-skinned non-Caucasian patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Various skin disorders may occur during antiviral therapy with interferon (IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) for chronic hepatitis C. This article describes to our knowledge the first report of lingual hyperpigmentation during pegylated (PEG)-IFN/RBV combination therapy in five dark-skinned hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients. Lingual pigmentation during antiviral therapy was not associated with age, gender, HCV genotype, doses of RBV, or duration of the treatment or treatment outcome. Since IFN increases the expression of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) surface receptors, the use of PEG-IFN having a longer plasma half-life may even increase incidence for such cutaneous side effects particularly in dark-skinned HCV patients.