Document Detail


Amantadine therapy for chronic hepatitis C.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  15209605     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
OBJECTIVE: Although treatment of hepatitis C has improved, up to 50% do not respond to standard therapy with interferon regimes or cannot tolerate the treatment due to side effects. The purpose of the present investigation was to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the antiviral drug amantadine for the treatment of hepatitis C in those who had either previously failed interferon therapy or were not candidates for interferon. DESIGN: A prospective double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial. SETTING: Outpatient research clinic of a teaching hospital. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: One hundred fifty-two patients with confirmed hepatitis C with abnormal liver enzymes, detectable hepatitis C RNA in the blood, and abnormal liver histology by biopsy were randomized to receive treatment or placebo. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Patients received either amantadine 100 mg twice daily by mouth or placebo for 6 months. After 6 months, placebo-treated patients were crossed over and treated with amantadine for 6 months and amantadine-treated subjects received 6 additional months of therapy. Amantadine therapy resulted in a significant decline in serum alanine aminotransferase compared to placebo (P =.03). Nine percent cleared the virus at the end of therapy and 6.8% had a sustained virologic response 6 months after discontinuation of amantadine, but this was not statistically significant. Side effects were minimal, and the social quality of life survey improved with 12 months of amantadine (P =.02). CONCLUSIONS: Oral amantadine may provide a safe alternative treatment for those patients who are intolerant or unresponsive to interferon.
Authors:
Jill P Smith; Thomas R Riley; Attila Devenyi; Sandra I Bingaman; Allen Kunselman
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Clinical Trial; Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of general internal medicine     Volume:  19     ISSN:  0884-8734     ISO Abbreviation:  J Gen Intern Med     Publication Date:  2004 Jun 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2004-06-22     Completed Date:  2005-05-26     Revised Date:  2009-11-18    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8605834     Medline TA:  J Gen Intern Med     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  662-8     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, The Milton S Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA 17033-0850, USA. jsmith2@psu.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Alanine Transaminase / blood
Amantadine / therapeutic use*
Antiviral Agents / therapeutic use*
Child
Double-Blind Method
Female
Hepacivirus / isolation & purification*
Hepatitis C, Chronic / blood,  drug therapy*,  virology
Humans
Infant
Male
Patient Dropouts
Quality of Life
RNA, Viral / analysis
Sex Factors
Time Factors
Grant Support
ID/Acronym/Agency:
R01 AI41613/AI/NIAID NIH HHS
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
0/Antiviral Agents; 0/RNA, Viral; 768-94-5/Amantadine; EC 2.6.1.2/Alanine Transaminase
Comments/Corrections

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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