The Effect of Interferon and Ribavirin on Oxidative Stress in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients | ||
| Bulletin of Egyptian Society for Physiological Sciences | ||
| Article 9, Volume 32, Issue 2, December 2012, Pages 115-124 PDF (173.55 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/besps.2012.35841 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Maggie Ramzy* ; Hend Abdel-Ghany | ||
| Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Hepatitis C virus is the most common cause of chronic viral hepatitis. The hepatic damage is due to both the cytopathic effect of the virus and the inflammatory changes. Oxidative stress could play a role in pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus infection. The aim of the present study is to determine oxidant/antioxidant status of patients with chronic hepatitis C and the effect of alpha-interferon plus ribavirin combination therapy on oxidative stress. Twenty patients with chronic hepatitis C and ten healthy controls were included in the study. Erythrocytes reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and plasma total sulfhydryl group (tSH) were measured before and after 3 and 6 months of treatment and in control group and correlated with serum AST, ALT and viral load. Our results showed that there was reduction in erythrocyte GSH, SOD and plasma tSH in patients with chronic hepatitis C and they began to rise significantly early after 3 months of treatment and sometimes normalize after 6 months. Also, there were significant negative correlations between these parameters and liver enzymes (ALT and AST) and viral load. The present study showed presence of oxidative stress in chronic hepatitis C patients. Although interferon and ribavirin are not antioxidants, they promote an early inhibition of oxidative stress. This suggests that antioxidant supplementation might be considered in patients with chronic hepatitis C. | ||
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