Impact of human cytomegalovirus on the response of chronic hepatitis C virus-infected patients to pegylated interferone and ribavirin combination therapy

Abstract

Objective The aim of this study was to study the impact of human cytomegalovirus infection in response rates of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection to pegylated interferon and ribavirin combination therapy. Background Cytomegalovirus affects the liver and overall immunological status of the host body. In chronic hepatitis C virus patients, co-infection with Cytomegalovirus could be an additional threat to the host and may contribute to the complexity of disease outcome. Patients and Methods This study was conducted on 40 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection candidates for pegylated interferon and ribavirin combination therapy. They were classified into two groups according to response to therapy. Group I (non-responders): included 20 chronic hepatitis C virus patients with any form of non response to therapy. They were 12 males (60%) and 8 females (40%). Group II (responders): included 20 patients with adequate response to therapy at the end of treatment (48 weeks). They were 9 males (45 %) and 11 females (55 %). Results There were significant increases in the number of patients with positive polymerase chain reaction for Human cytomegalovirus DNA in non-responders when compared with responders (14 out of 20 patients versus 5 out of 20 patients respectively). Conclusion Human cytomegalovirus is one of the independent factors that may significantly affect response of chronic hepatitis C virus patients to pegylated interferon and ribavirin combination therapy.