Brief Article
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World J Gastroenterol. Apr 28, 2014; 20(16): 4681-4691
Published online Apr 28, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i16.4681
Safety and efficacy of Hansenula-derived PEGylated-interferon alpha-2a and ribavirin combination in chronic hepatitis C Egyptian children
Suzan El Naghi, Tawhida Y Abdel-Ghaffar, Hanaa El-Karaksy, Elham F Abdel-Aty, Mona S El-Raziky, Aleef A Allam, Heba Helmy, Hanaa A El-Araby, Behairy E Behairy, Mohamed A El-Guindi, Hatem El-Sebaie, Aisha Y Abdel-Ghaffar, Nermin A Ehsan, Ahmed M El-Hennawy, Mostafa M Sira
Suzan El Naghi, Pediatric Department, National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institute, 11441 Cairo, Egypt
Suzan El Naghi, Tawhida Y Abdel-Ghaffar, Yassin Abdel Ghaffar Charity Center for Liver Disease and Research, 2851 Cairo, Egypt
Tawhida Y Abdel-Ghaffar, Pediatric Department, Ain Shams University, 11566 Cairo, Egypt
Hanaa El-Karaksy, Mona S El-Raziky, Heba Helmy, Department of Pediatrics, Cairo University Pediatric Hospital, 11562 Cairo, Egypt
Elham F Abdel-Aty, Aleef A Allam, Hanaa A El-Araby, Behairy E Behairy, Mohamed A El-Guindi, Mostafa M Sira, Pediatric Hepatology Department, National Liver Institute, Menofiya University, Shebin El-koom, 32511 Menofiya, Egypt
Hatem El-Sebaie, Biochemistry Department, National Liver Institute, 32511 Menofiya, Egypt
Aisha Y Abdel-Ghaffar, Clinical Pathology Department, Ain Shams University, 11566 Cairo, Egypt
Nermin A Ehsan, Pathology Department, National Liver Institute, Menofiya University, Shebin El-koom, 32511 Menofiya, Egypt
Ahmed M El-Hennawy, Pathology Department, Cairo University, Faculty of Medicine, Kasr El-Aini, 11562 Cairo, Egypt
Author contributions: El Naghi S, Abdel-Ghaffar TY, El-Karaksy H, El-Raziky MS, El-Araby HA, Behairy BE, El-Guindi MA and Sira MM were involved in the study concept and design; El Naghi S, Abdel-Ghaffar TY, El-Karaksy H, Abdel-Aty EF, El-Raziky MS, Allam AA, Helmy H, El-Araby HA, Behairy BE, El-Guindi MA and Sira MM were involved in recruitment of patients, clinical management, follow up and contributed to data acquisition; Sira MM performed the statistical analysis and designed the figures; El Naghi S, Abdel-Ghaffar TY, El-Karaksy H and Sira MM performed the data interpretation; El Naghi S, Abdel-Ghaffar TY, El-Raziky MS and Sira MM wrote the manuscript; Abdel-Ghaffar AY and El-Sebaie H performed laboratory tests and genotyping; Ehsan NA and El-Hennawy AM performed histopathological examinations; all the authors reviewed the manuscript.
Supported by Yassin Abdel-Ghaffar Charity Center for Liver Disease and Research, Cairo, Egypt, in collaboration with the National Liver Institute, Menofiya University, Egypt and Cairo University Pediatric Hospital, Cairo, Egypt; Antiviral medications (PEG-IFN-alpha-2a and ribavirin) and HCV genotyping were offered as donation from Yassin Abdel-Ghaffar Charity Center for Liver Disease and Research, Cairo, Egypt
Correspondence to: Mostafa M Sira, MD, Department of Pediatric Hepatology, National Liver Institute, Menofiya University, Gamal Abd El-Nasir, Shebin El-koom, 32511 Menofiya, Egypt. msira@liver-eg.org
Telephone: +20-48-2222740 Fax: +20-48-2234586
Received: October 20, 2013
Revised: January 7, 2014
Accepted: March 4, 2014
Published online: April 28, 2014
Processing time: 190 Days and 17.8 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Egypt has the highest prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the world (15%-25%) and the main (90%) genotype is type 4. Prevalence in Egyptian children was found to be 3% in upper Egypt and 9% in lower Egypt. PEG-IFN-alpha-2a or -2b and ribavirin have been used in small numbers of HCV-infected children, whose SVRs are higher in genotypes 2/3 than in genotypes 1/4. A novel 20-kDa PEG-IFN-alpha-2a (Reiferon Retard) derived from the Hansenula polymorpha expression system has been used in adults with chronic HCV, achieving an SVR ranging from 56% to 60.7%, while no studies have been reported in children before.