Hepatitis C is a viral infection affecting the liver that can become chronic. For individuals with a chronic infection, treatment is needed to prevent cirrhosis and cancer of the liver. The conventional treatment regimen for Hepatitis C is a combination treatment with interferon and ribavirin, which is only effective in about half of those treated. For some treatment is completely ineffective and they simply must wait for clearance for a liver transplant.
Because the disease is so common, with more than 100 million affected worlwide, research for more effective treatments is top priority. New information published in Hepatology provided promising evidence that commonly used statin drugs may aid treatment by blocking viral replication and transmission.
Researchers in Japan presented preliminary research that statin drugs such as Crestor, Lipitor, and Zocor block replication and transmission in test tubes. It appears that all statin drugs are effective except pravastatin and fluvastatin is the most effective.
The statin drugs were also tested with interferon for effectiveness against the virus. In the test tube interferon worked even better when combined with statins, a promising finding for the 45% of individuals who are resistant to interferon and ribavirin treatment.
More studies are needed to determine true effect including clinical trials in humans. But at this moment, results are very promising.
Posted by Dr. Christina Gutierrez on June 30, 2006 02:28 PM
