A new approach for treatment of hepatitis C in hepatitis C-autoimmune hepatitis overlap syndrome.

Abstract

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) and autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) overlap syndrome is an uncommon but well-documented condition. There are no standard guidelines for treating this complex disease. Generally, interferon is contraindicated in autoimmune diseases.1 There are a few case reports and case series in which interferon alfa three times per week or pegylated interferon with ribavirin have been used with immunosuppressive medications such as prednisone and azathioprine, with variable response.2,3 We report a case of HCV-AIH overlap syndrome that was first treated aggressively with immunosuppressive therapy, with partial response, and subsequently treated with consensus interferon (Infergen; interferon alfacon-1, Three Rivers Pharmaceuticals), achieving sustained virologic response (SVR). To our knowledge, the use of consensus interferon has not been reported in the literature for the treatment of chronic HCV in the presence of AIH.