Non-Organ Specific Autoantibodies and the Response to the Therapy in Chronic Hepatitis C

Abstract

There is little data on the clinical relevance of non-organ-specific auto-antibodies (NOSA) in the standard antiviral therapy with interferon-alpha (IFN-_) and ribavirin. ANA, ASMA, AMA, ANCA, and LKM1 were determined on 36 patients with chronic hepatitis C. The presence of these autoantibodies was analyzed in the antiviral therapy with IFN-_ pegylated and ribavirin, according to the demographic, biochemical, histological, and virologic parameters. NOSA prevalence was 61%, 22 patients of 36 had at least one autoantibody at the start and during antiviral therapy. NOSA has been associated with increased levels of HCV RNA (ribonucleic acid hepatitis C) at the beginning of treatment (p<0.05). NOSA absence was associated with a favorable response to treatment, namely with early virologic response (p<0.05) and virologic response at the end of treatment (p<0.05). Therefore, despite a good response to treatment, adding ribavirin to the treatment with IFN-_ could increase immunological differences that may affect treatment results.