Department of Internal Medicine, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital.
Hepatol Res. 2009 Jun;39(6):539-45. doi: 10.1111/j.1872-034X.2009.00489.x. Epub 2009 Feb 25.
Anemia during combination therapy with pegylated interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin (RBV) for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients usually leads to RBV dose reduction or discontinuation. This study evaluated the effect of erythropoietin-beta (EPO-beta) to maintain RBV dose and hemoglobin (Hb) level in chronic HCV patients treated with antiviral combination therapy.
Eighty-eight chronic HCV patients who developed anemia during therapy were enrolled into this retrospective study: 55 in the EPO-beta group and 33 in the untreated group. The study endpoints were to assess the RBV maintenance and the changes in Hb.
A higher percentage of patients with RBV maintenance was observed in the EPO-beta group compared with the untreated group (nadir Hb level <10.5 g/dL; 70% vs. 38%, P = 0.020; nadir Hb < 10 g/dL; 62% vs. 27%, P = 0.046). The mean Hb change from week 12 to week 20 was higher in the EPO-beta group when compared with the untreated group, especially for patients receiving a total EPO-beta dose of more than 16 000 U (+0.70 g/dL vs. -0.32 g/dL, P = 0.023) and of 10 000 U-14 000 U (+0.60 g/dL vs. -0.32 g/dL, P = 0.023).
Low-dose EPO-beta can maintain RBV dose and increase Hb levels in anemic chronic HCV patients receiving combination therapy.
聚乙二醇干扰素 alfa-2b 联合利巴韦林（RBV）治疗慢性丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）患者时发生的贫血通常导致 RBV 剂量减少或停药。本研究评估了促红细胞生成素-β（EPO-β）在接受抗病毒联合治疗的慢性 HCV 患者中维持 RBV 剂量和血红蛋白（Hb）水平的效果。
本回顾性研究纳入了 88 例在治疗过程中发生贫血的慢性 HCV 患者：EPO-β 组 55 例，未治疗组 33 例。研究终点为评估 RBV 维持和 Hb 变化。
EPO-β 组维持 RBV 的患者比例高于未治疗组（Hb 最低值<10.5 g/dL；70%比 38%，P = 0.020；Hb 最低值<10 g/dL；62%比 27%，P = 0.046）。与未治疗组相比，EPO-β 组从第 12 周到第 20 周的平均 Hb 变化更高，尤其是接受总 EPO-β 剂量超过 16 000 U 的患者（+0.70 g/dL 比-0.32 g/dL，P = 0.023）和 10 000 U-14 000 U 的患者（+0.60 g/dL 比-0.32 g/dL，P = 0.023）。
低剂量 EPO-β 可维持接受联合治疗的贫血慢性 HCV 患者的 RBV 剂量并提高 Hb 水平。
