The Effect of Interferon and Ribavirin on Oxidative Stress in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients

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.