Waheed Yasir
Yasir Waheed, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan.
World J Virol. 2015 Feb 12;4(1):33-5. doi: 10.5501/wjv.v4.i1.33.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has infected more than 200 million people around the globe. From 2001-2011, interferon plus ribavirin remained the standard of care for patients with HCV infection. The therapy had a limited response with a number of side effects. Recently, results for phase III trials of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir combination therapy have been announced. In treatment naïve patients, 12 wk of therapy with ledipasvir and sofosbuvir showed a sustained virological response (SVR) rate of 99%. In treatment experienced patients, 12-24 wk of therapy with ledipasvir and sofosbuvir in the absence or presence of ribavirin showed an SVR rate of 94%-99%. In cirrhotic patients the rate of SVR was 86% and 99% for 12 and 24 wk of therapy, respectively. The ledipasvir and sofosbuvir therapy showed very good results in different subgroups of patients regardless of patient's race, alanine aminotransferase levels, sex and host genetic factors. The combination therapy was well tolerated with no emergence of resistant mutants. The most common adverse effects were nausea, headache and fatigue. With the availability of interferon free therapy with minimal adverse effects, it will be easy to decrease the future morbidity and mortality caused by HCV infection.
丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）已感染全球超过2亿人。从2001年至2011年，干扰素加利巴韦林一直是HCV感染患者的标准治疗方案。该疗法反应有限且有多种副作用。最近，已公布了雷迪帕韦和索非布韦联合疗法的III期试验结果。在初治患者中，雷迪帕韦和索非布韦治疗12周的持续病毒学应答（SVR）率为99%。在经治患者中，无论有无利巴韦林，雷迪帕韦和索非布韦治疗12 - 24周的SVR率为94% - 99%。在肝硬化患者中，治疗12周和24周的SVR率分别为86%和99%。无论患者的种族、丙氨酸氨基转移酶水平、性别和宿主遗传因素如何，雷迪帕韦和索非布韦疗法在不同亚组患者中均显示出非常好的效果。联合疗法耐受性良好，未出现耐药突变体。最常见的不良反应是恶心、头痛和疲劳。随着副作用极小的无干扰素疗法的出现，降低未来HCV感染所致的发病率和死亡率将变得容易。
