Usefulness of HCV-RNA assays in efficacy evaluation of interferon treatment for chronic hepatitis C: Amplicor™ HCV assay and branched DNA probe assay

We investigated the usefulness of Amplicor™ HCV assay and branched DNA probe assay in efficacy evaluation of interferon therapies for chronic hepatitis C. Subjects were 164 HCV-RNA positive chronic hepatitis C patients who received interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha, HLBI) 3–6 MU per day for 14–24 weeks. Their HCV-RNA levels were examined five times by using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay, Amplicor™ HCV assay, and branched DNA probe assay. Complete response rate in the low virus level patients was significantly higher than in the high virus level patients ( P P