研究人員一直在尋找治療或預防丙型肝炎感染的方法。
丙型肝炎具有傳染性,可以導致肝功能衰竭、肝臟癌症及死亡。
美國國立衛生研究院安東尼·弗奇博士這樣說道:
“慢性丙型肝炎感染是我們在美國進行肝移植的最主要原因,“弗奇說道。
弗奇博士領導的一項研究關注生活在貧窮,城市地區的患者們,其中主要是已經身染肝臟疾病的非洲裔美國人。
而這些患者服用了一種尚未經美國食品和藥物管理局批准的新藥sofosbuvir。
弗奇再次強調:“Sofosbuvir直接針對丙型肝炎病毒本身。
它會干擾對於這一病毒複製極為重要的一種酶,”他說道。
而患者們也在服用對抗丙型肝炎的舊藥rivavirin。
在服用新老兩種藥物一段時間後,50%-70%到的病人被治癒。
他們在自身的血液中沒有丙型肝炎病毒。
但治療過程將通過注射對抗這種疾病的干擾素藥物排除在外。
干擾素能造成使其難以吸收的嚴重影響,但在試驗中患者服用的結合藥物卻呈現最小的副作用,而且沒有病人退出。
丙型肝炎被認為是一個沉默的殺手,因為大多數人直到病情進一步惡化才知道身患此病。
早發現能提早預防肝癌和肝衰竭並且提高治癒的幾率,這就是為什麼弗奇博士所言積極的篩查和尋找易於服用的藥物是一樣重要的原因。
“讓這些人診斷,如果他們需要,讓他們參與治療的理念是非常重要的公共衛生職責,”他說道。
這項研究已經發表在《美國醫學協會雜誌》上。
Researchers have been looking for ways to cure or prevent hepatitis C infections.
Hepatitis C is contagious, and it can cause liver failure, liver cancer and death.
Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institutes of Health puts it this way:
“Chronic hepatitis C infection is the leading reason why we have liver transplantation in the United States," said Fauci.
Dr. Fauci headed a study that focused on patients who lived in poor, urban areas, mostly African-American who already had liver disease.
These patients were given a new drug, sofosbuvir, which has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Again, Dr. Fauci.“Sofosbuvir is an agent that acts directly against the hepatitis C virus itself.
It interferes with one of the enzymes that's important for this virus to replicate itself," he said.
The patients also received rivavirin, an older drug that fights hepatitis C.
After receiving both drugs for a period of time, between 50 and 70 percent of the patients were cured.
They did not have the hepatitis C virus in their blood.
The treatment excluded interferon - a drug frequently given by injection to combat the disease.
Interferon can cause serious effects that make it difficult to take, but the combination of drugs given in the trial had minimal side effects, and none of the patients dropped out.
Hepatitis C is considered a silent killer because most people don't know they have it until the disease is advanced.
Catching it early prevents liver cancer and liver failure, and improves the odds of a cure, which is why Dr. Fauci says aggressive screening is as important as finding drugs that are easy to take.
“The idea of getting these people diagnosed and, if they need it, to get them into a treatment regimen is a very important public health imperative," he said.
The study appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
