1b型高ウイルスC型慢性肝炎のPEG-IFN+リバビリン併用療法（併用療法）無効例に対する二重濾過血漿交換療法（DFPP）+IFN-β 4週間連続投与の試み―早期ウイルスdynamicsを中心に―

Double filtration plasmapheresis was approved in April 2008 in Japan for the retreatment of chronic hepatitis C patients with genotype 1b and high viral loads, whose hepatitis C virus was not eradicated by previous pegylated IFN plus ribavirin combination therapy. Eight patients with non-sustained virological response (SVR) to the combination therapy were enrolled in this study, and early viral dynamics were assessed. DFPP plus consecutive intravenous IFN-β treatment for 4 weeks reduced the viral load by 1 log in 2 of 5 (40%) patients 24 hours and 1 week after the start of treatment, and in 4 of 5 (80%), and by 2 log in 2 of 5 (40%) 4 weeks after the start of treatment. The present study suggests that DFPP plus consecutive intravenous IFN-β treatment for 4 weeks appears to be a promising treatment for non-SVR patients with genotype 1b and high viral load previously treated with PEG-IFN+RBV therapy.