Clinical trial NCT02150291: A Pilot Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Folic Acid and/or Vitamin B Complex on Hepatitis C Infected Patients Treated With Pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin.
Official title: A Pilot Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Folic Acid and/or Vitamin B Complex on Hepatitis C Infected Patients Treated With Pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin.
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: PHASE4
Conditions: Hepatitis C
Lead sponsor: British University In Egypt
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Ain Shams University
First posted: 2014-05-29
Enrollment: 120
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: Since success of the combination therapy with PEG-IFN and RBV is contingent on maintaining adequate doses of both drugs throughout the treatment period, the emergence of hematological side effects is expected and requires intervention. The hematological adverse effects lead to a trade-off between continuing the treatment with optimal dosage, to clear the virus, exacerbating thereby the side effects versus decreasing dosage to relieve severe anemia, reducing thereby the chances of achieving sustained virological response (SVR). Therefore, we aimed at giving Folic acid® and Neurobion® to HCV-infected patients during treatment with different types of PEG-IFN plus ribavirin in an attempt to evaluate its efficacy and safety as a prophylactic treatment to prevent hematological adverse effects. Preventing adverse effects without interfering with the therapeutic efficacy of different types of PEG-IFN plus ribavirin in HCV patients will lead to better health outcomes and improvement in their quality of life (HRQOL).


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

Chronic hepatitis C patients of both sexes were eligible for inclusion if they were HCV RNA positive, naive to PEG-INF and RBV, and had abnormal serum alanine transaminase levels on two occasions during the preceding six months.

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients with significant hematological abnormalities at baseline, such as neutropenia (ANC \<1200 x 103 cells/µL), thrombocytopenia (\<70 x 103 cells/ µL), and anemia (\<10.5 g/dL), were excluded. Patients were also excluded from study participation if they had serum creatinine ≥1.70 mg/dL (150 µmol), hepatitis B surface antigen positivity, decompensated cirrhosis, or other forms of liver disease not attributable to HCV. Patients with severe depression or psychosis, uncontrolled seizures, poorly controlled cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, or autoimmune disorders were also ineligible. Women were ineligible for study participation if they were pregnant or unwilling to use at least 2 forms of effective contraception during the entire study period.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Effect of folic acid and/or Vitamin B complex to prevent adverse effect of pegylated interferon and ribavirin
timeFrame: 1 YEAR
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Effect of folic acid and/or Vitamin B complex on the efficacy of pegylated interferon and ribavirin.
timeFrame: 1 year and 6 month after end of treatment
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Cairo
country: Egypt
facility: Ain Shams University Hospitals
state: Abbasiya
Study officials:
References: