Kearney Keith R, Thornton James J, Navarro Victor J
Lankenau Hospital, Department of Gastroenterology, 100 Lancaster Avenue, Wynnewood, PA 19096, USA.
Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2008 Dec;9(18):3243-9. doi: 10.1517/14656560802594459.
The current standard therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), combination therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin, is plagued by a number of side effects, most notably anemia. This anemia is typically managed with a reduction of ribavirin dosing, which may lead to reduced efficacy. Taribavirin, an oral prodrug of ribavirin, which has been shown to induce a lesser degree of anemia, is being investigated for the treatment of chronic HCV.
To summarize the clinical trials involving taribavirin and its potential role in the treatment of chronic HCV.
Information was obtained via searches for data related to taribavirin, as well as other current and investigational therapies for chronic HCV. Press releases discussing otherwise unpublished trial outcomes were obtained from the website of Valeant Pharmaceuticals, the producer of Viramidine (taribavirin).
Taribavirin may increase adherence to therapy for chronic HCV by reducing the need for dose reduction due to anemia. A recent Phase II trial investigating early and sustained virological response showed no statistically significant differences between ribavirin 1000/1200 mg and taribavirin at 800-, 1200-, or 1600-mg dosing, while illustrating a lesser degree of anemia in 800- and 1200-mg dosing of taribavirin. Ongoing studies will continue to examine the efficacy of combination therapy with taribavirin in the place of ribavirin.
目前慢性丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）的标准治疗方法是聚乙二醇化干扰素与利巴韦林联合治疗，但该方法存在诸多副作用，其中最显著的是贫血。这种贫血通常通过减少利巴韦林剂量来处理，而这可能会导致疗效降低。替利巴韦林是利巴韦林的口服前体药物，已显示其诱发的贫血程度较轻，目前正在研究其用于治疗慢性HCV。
总结涉及替利巴韦林的临床试验及其在慢性HCV治疗中的潜在作用。
通过搜索与替利巴韦林以及慢性HCV的其他现有和研究性治疗方法相关的数据来获取信息。关于尚未发表的试验结果的新闻稿来自Viramidine（替利巴韦林）生产商Valeant制药公司的网站。
替利巴韦林可能通过减少因贫血而减少剂量的需求来提高慢性HCV治疗的依从性。最近一项研究早期和持续病毒学应答的II期试验表明，1000/1200mg利巴韦林与800mg、1200mg或1600mg替利巴韦林之间在统计学上无显著差异，同时显示800mg和1200mg替利巴韦林的贫血程度较轻。正在进行的研究将继续考察用替利巴韦林替代利巴韦林进行联合治疗的疗效。
