الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 142 |  |  |
| | | from | 142 | | |
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection often progresses to chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis , and possibly hepatocellular carcinoma. Chronic hepatitis C infection affects nearly 300 million people worldwide and is one of the main causes of chronic liver disease. Egypt has a heavy burden of liver disease, mostly due to chronic infection with hepatitis C virus ( HCV). Overall prevalence of antibody to HCV in the general population is around 1024%. Interferon is an essential component of the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection . However, treatment with interferon alone is generally associated with a sustained virologic response is fewer than 20% of patients. Covalent attachment of a 40 kDa branched chain poly ethylene glycol moiety to interferon Alfa2a produces peg interferon Alfa 2a, a compound that has sustained absorption, a slower rate of clearance , and a longer half <U+2013> life than unmodified interferon Alfa. The addition of ribavirin to peg interferon Alfa 2a might therefore be expected to decrease the risk of relapse after therapy. The rates of sustained biochemical complete response to interferon is defined as normal ALT values 6 months after the cessation of therapy. No significant differences (p>0.05) were shown between the virologic responses defined by PCRbased HCV RNA testing and those defined by dotELISAbased HCV antigen detection in two treatment protocols either at the end of treatment (month 6) or at the end of followup period (month 12). In conclusion, DotELISA based on HCV Ag detection could be used to monitor the virologic response to evaluate patients who treated with pegylated interferon to save the final cost of treatment.