Thymalfasin for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences2007PMID: 17600289

Plain Language Summary

This review examines multiple clinical studies testing thymalfasin (thymosin alpha-1) in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin for difficult-to-treat hepatitis C patients. The studies focused on patients who had not responded to previous treatments, exploring whether adding thymalfasin to standard therapies could improve sustained viral clearance rates.

Abstract

The purpose of this review article is to examine previous and ongoing studies of thymalfasin in combination with peginterferon-alpha2a and peginterferon-alpha2a plus ribavirin in difficult-to-treat hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients. The following studies will be reviewed in detail: (1) Sherman and colleagues conducted a study in 109 HCV RNA positive HVC patients comparing the combination of thymalfasin + IFN versus IFN alone versus placebo. (2) Rustgi et al. evaluated the efficacy and safety of thymalfasin and peg-IFN-alpha2a in 31 genotype 1, high viral load, HCV nonresponders in a 12-week viral kinetic study. (3) Di Bisceglie, Sherman et al. performed a study of previous HCV nonresponders being retreated with either peginterferon-alpha2a plus thymalfasin or peginterferon-alpha2a plus placebo. (4) Poo and colleagues in Mexico evaluated triple combination therapy using thymalfasin, peginterferon-alpha2a, and ribavirin for the treatment of Hispanic HCV nonresponders.

Authors

Rustgi, Vinod K