@article {191,
	title = {Serum procalcitonin levels in chronic hepatitis C patients under pegylated interferon-alpha plus ribavirin treatment.},
	journal = {J Clin Virol},
	volume = {37},
	year = {2006},
	month = {2006 Dec},
	pages = {329-31},
	abstract = {OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the alterations of serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels in patients with chronic hepatitis C during pegylated interferon-alpha (PEG-IFNa) plus ribavirin (RIB) treatment and to correlate them with clinical and virological outcomes.

STUDY DESIGN: Fifty-two consecutive patients (29 males, age=41.2+/-14.7 years) with chronic HCV-related liver disease (six cirrhotics) were evaluated for PCT levels at baseline and during the treatment course (at week 12, 24, 48 and 72) with PEG-IFNa plus RIB. Sustained virological response (SVR) was confirmed by undetectable serum HCV-RNA at the end of treatment and again 6 months after completion of treatment.

RESULTS: Two patients exhibited culture-proved bacterial infections during the treatment course. Thirty-six patients (69.2\%) exhibit SVR and 16 (30.8\%) were non-responders. Serum PCT levels remained within normal limits (0.1-0.5 ng/mL) in all treated patients throughout the follow-up period except those two who exhibited bacterial infections during the treatment course. Virological responders exhibited significant decline of serum PCT levels over time compared to non-responders (p<0.001), even when adjusted for multiple baseline parameters (p=0.037).

CONCLUSION: Serum PCT levels decline in chronic hepatitis C patients during PEG-IFNa plus RIB treatment, especially in the sustained virological responder group, while they elevate only when bacterial infections complicate the treatment course.},
	keywords = {Adult, Antiviral Agents, Calcitonin, Drug Therapy, Combination, Female, Hepatitis C, Chronic, Humans, Interferon-alpha, Male, Middle Aged, Polyethylene Glycols, Protein Precursors, Recombinant Proteins, Ribavirin},
	issn = {1386-6532},
	doi = {10.1016/j.jcv.2006.08.014},
	author = {Elefsiniotis, Ioannis S and Petrocheilou, Aikaterini and Scarmeas, Nikolaos and Ketikoglou, Ioannis and Pantazis, Konstantinos D and Toutouza, Marina and Tsianos, Epameinondas V}
}
