A pilot study of add-on oral hypoglycemic agents in treatment-naïve genotype-1 chronic hepatitis C patients receiving peginterferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Insulin resistance (IR) affects sustained virological response (SVR) to peginterferon alfa plus ribavirin (PR) in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Whether add-on oral hypoglycemic agents (OHAs) to PR improve SVR remains unclear; therefore, we conducted a prospective, randomized pilot trial on 23 consecutive patients with genotype 1 CHC and IR in Taiwan.

METHODS

Patients were randomized to receive acarbose (Arm A; n = 7) or metformin (Arm B; n = 6) or pioglitazone (Arm C; n = 5) in addition to peginterferon alfa-2b (1.5 μg/kg/week) plus ribavirin (1000-1200 mg/day) or just PR (Arm D; n = 5). The primary end point was SVR, and secondary end points were viral clearance at Weeks 17, 29, and 53. There were no differences among all arms at baseline.

RESULTS

Using intent-to-treat analysis, SVR was observed in 66.7% (4/6), 83.3% (5/6), 66.7% (4/6), and 60% (3/5) in Arms A, B, C, and D, respectively. SVR was higher in female patients receiving OHA [90% (9/10)] than in male patients [50% (4/8)]. Results of per protocol analysis showed that SVR was 80.0% (4/5) in Arm A, 100% (5/5) in Arm B, 66.7% (4/6) in Arm C, and 60% (3/5) in Arm D. Patients receiving OHA had a higher rapid virologic response: 11/18 (61%) versus 2/5 (40%). Complete early virologic response was comparable between patients receiving OHA and PR [15/18 (83%) vs. 4/5 (80%)].

CONCLUSION

Our preliminary data show add-on OHAs to PR might achieve better early viral kinetics and SVR. However, further larger studies are needed to confirm these findings.