Abstract
The influence of 3-month interferon-α (IFN-α) treatment on plasma erythropoietin (EPO) concentration in patients with chronic active hepatitis (CAH) induced by hepatitis B virus(HBV) infection was investigated. The study was carried out in 44 nonanemic patients divided into two groups: CAH B, 30 subjects not treated with IFN-α, and CAH B-IFN, 14 subjects treated with IFN-α for the first 3 months of the study (5 MU/m2 body surface subcutaneously (s.c.) three times per week). In all patients, blood samples were taken at the beginning of the study(0) and after 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of observation. At the beginning, plasma EPO levels in the CAH B (27.8 ± 2.21 mU/ml) and CAH B-IFN (27.3 ± 3.04 mU/ml) groups did not differ significantly from each other and were significantly higher (p < 0.0001) than in healthy subjects (10.4 ± 1.06 mU/ml). In patients in the CAH B group, plasma EPO concentrations did not change significantly during the whole observation period. In patients in the CAH B-IFN group, a transient, significant increase in plasma EPO level was found. The highest plasma EPO concentration in this group was noted after the third month of treatment (41.1 ± 3.41 mU/ml). In conclusion, patients with CAH induced by HBV infection are characterized by increased plasma EPO concentrations, and IFN-α treatment in these patients causes a transient increase in the plasma EPO level.
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