Alpha interferon in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection in thalassaemia major.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is responsible for the majority of cases of post transfusion non-A non-B (NANB) hepatitis in thalassaemia major (TM). Twelve multi-transfused TM patients with serological, biochemical, histological and molecular biological evidence of HCV infection have been treated for 6 months with recombinant alpha-interferon (IFN). Ten (83%) responded as assessed by a fall of at least 50% of pre-treatment serum transaminase levels. Histological improvement was observed in 6/7 responders tested. Natural killer (NK) cell activity 24 h after the first dose of IFN was significantly increased in responders as compared to non-responders (P < 0.05). HCV RNA disappeared from serum in 5/12 and from liver tissue in 2/5 of the responders. The degree of induction of peripheral blood mononuclear cell 2'5' oligoadenylate synthetase messenger RNA (2-5 OAS mRNA), an enzyme induced by IFN, after the first dose of IFN did not correlate with response. IFN was generally well tolerated. We conclude that the response rate in multi-transfused TM patients infected with HCV and treated with IFN is similar to that in non-multi-transfused patients.