- Title
- The adjuvant role of thyroxine in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection
- Creator
- Tran, H. A.; Ianna, E. A.; Jones, T. L.; Reeves, G. E. M.
- Relation
- QJM: an International Journal of Medicine Vol. 105, Issue 7, p. 683-687
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/qjmed/hcr094
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2012
- Description
- Thyroid disease (TD) is the commonest extra-hepatic complication in patients with chronic hepatitis C undergoing combination interferon-α and ribavirin treatment. About 5–10% develops TD of various aetiologies during the course of treatment. It had been suggested that patients who developed thyroid diseases tend to achieve sustained virological response more readily although a meta-analysis did not support this contention. Furthermore, the underlying pathogenetic mechanisms are poorly understood. The following 2 cases are presented to support this observation. In both cases, initial therapies were unsuccessful with normal thyroid function, whereas re-treatment with interferon-α (and ribavirin) in the presence of overt TD resulted in successful sustained viral clearance. Although anecdotal, these cases lend further evidence to the potential synergistic effect of thyroid hormone and interferon therapy. Further research is required to support this hypothesis.
- Subject
- hepatitis C; thyroxine; thyroid disease; case studies
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1325492
- Identifier
- uon:25285
- Identifier
- ISSN:1460-2725
- Language
- eng
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