Cingles Info

Study: Amantadine Benefits Difficult-To-Treat Hepatitis C Patients
The antiviral drug amantadine appears to be a beneficial addition
in the treatment of patients with hepatitis C who fail to respond
to interferon and ribavirin alone.
Researchers from the Second University of Naples in Italy
investigated the benefit of adding amantadine to the standard
therapy of interferon and ribavirin. Their study is reported in the
May issue of Gut.
Many hepatitis C patients fail to respond to treatment with
interferon and ribavirin. Amantadine is an antiviral medication
used to prevent or treat certain influenza infections and
Parkinson's disease.
The study involved 114 patients, including 90 who received
ribavirin and varying doses of interferon and 24 patients who
received interferon, ribavirin and oral amantadine. All of the
patients were treated for 12 months.
At the end of one year, a sustained response was observed for six
or 25 percent of the 24 patients in the triple-therapy group and
just three patients in the interferon and ribavirin group. The
researchers noted the three-drug therapy was well tolerated and
did not increase the frequency or severity of side effects.
SOURCE: Gut 52(5):701-5