Platelet count and sustained virological response in hepatitis C treatment

Table 1 Clinical characteristics of chronic hepatitis C patients treated with pegylated interferon alpha-2a plus ribavirin in the present study

	Previous treatment		P value1
	(-)	(+)
Number of patients	127	69
Age (yr)	56.1± 10.7	59.0 ± 10.1	0.064
Gender (male/female)	62/65	34/35	NS
Body mass index (kg/m2)	23.4 ± 3.2	23.3 ± 3.9	NS
LDL cholesterol (mg/dL)	107 ± 52.3	102 ± 31.5	NS
ALT (IU/L)	72.0 ± 53.7	66.4 ± 48.5	NS
Gamma-glutamyl transferase (IU/L)	55.6 ± 74.8	67.0 ± 77.2	NS
Alpha-fetoprotein (ng/mL)	12.7 ± 30.0	25.9 ± 79.5	NS
HCV RNA (log IU/mL)	6.5 ± 0.7	6.4 ± 0.7	NS
White blood cells (/mL)	5213 ± 1519	4619 ± 1273	0.006
Neutrophils (/mL)	2752 ± 924	2474 ± 981	0.058
Hemoglobin (g/dL)	14.0 ± 1.4	13.7 ± 1.6	NS
Platelets (× 104/mL)	16.5 ± 5.0	15.6 ± 5.2	NS
RVR (+/-)	18/109	7/62	NS
EVR (+/-)	66/61	24/45	0.021

Values are expressed as mean ± SD.

¹P value indicates those between two groups with and without pretreatment by Student’s t test or χ² test. NS: Not significant; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; RVR: Rapid virological response; EVR: Early virological response.

Table 2 Comparison of factors between chronic hepatitis C patients with and without sustained virological response in the present study

	Previous treatment
	(-)			(+)
	SVR	Non-SVR	P value1	SVR	Non-SVR	P value1
Number of patients	72	55		27	42
Age (yr)	54.6 ± 10.9	58.0 ± 10.3	NS	58.5 ± 9.9	59.3 ± 10.3	NS
Gender (male/female)	41/31	21/34	0.036	11/16	23/19	NS
Body mass index (kg/m2)	23.4 ± 3.2	23.3 ± 3.9	NS	23.6 ± 3.6	22.8 ± 2.6	NS
LDL cholesterol (mg/dL)	107 ± 52.3	102 ± 31.5	NS	100 ± 31.3	92.8 ± 26.7	NS
ALT (IU/L)	67.6 ± 42.0	77.8 ± 65.9	NS	52.9 ± 35.4	75.1 ± 54.0	NS
Gamma-glutamyl transferase (IU/L)	45.1 ± 43.1	69.8 ± 102	NS	50.2 ± 51.1	76.9 ± 88.0	NS
Alpha-fetoprotein (ng/mL)	8.8 ± 9.7	17.4 ± 43.1	NS	13.3 ± 26.3	32.6 ± 96.5	NS
HCV RNA (log IU/mL)	6.4 ± 0.7	6.6 ± 0.6	NS	6.3 ± 0.9	6.4 ± 0.6	NS
White blood cells (/mL)	5363 ± 1582	5015 ± 1423	NS	4561 ± 1175	4657 ± 1345	NS
Neutrophils (/mL)	2910 ± 1006	2546 ± 767	NS	2337 ± 813	2562 ± 1074	NS
Hemoglobin (g/dL)	14.2 ± 1.5	13.8 ± 1.4	NS	13.8 ± 1.1	13.7 ± 1.9	NS
Platelets (× 104/mL)	17.5 ± 4.9	15.3 ± 4.8	0.013	16.5 ± 4.9	15.0 ± 5.3	NS
RVR (+/-)	18/54	0/55	< 0.001	7/20	0/42	< 0.001
EVR (+/-)	56/16	10/45	< 0.001	8/19	5/37	< 0.001

Values are expressed as mean ± SD.

¹P value indicates those between two groups with and without Sustained virological response (SVR) by Student’s t test or χ² test. NS: Not significant; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; RVR: Rapid virological response; EVR: Early virological response.

Table 3 Treatment outcomes in treatment-naive and treatment-experienced patients according to platelet counts at baseline

	< 130000/μL	≥130000/μL	P value
Proportion of SVR-archived in treatment-naive patients
Total patients	10/27 (37.0%)	62/100 (62.0%)	0.020
48 wk treatment	7/20 (35.0%)	44/69 (63.8%)	0.022
72 wk treatment	3/7 (42.9%)	18/31 (58.1%)	NS
Treatment-experienced patients
Total patients	7/24 (29.2%)	20/45 (44.4%)	NS
48 wk treatment	7/20 (33.3%)	9/21 (42.9%)	NS
72 wk treatment	2/9 (22.2%)	11/24 (45.8%)	NS

NS: Not significant; SVR: sustained virological response.