NCT00980161

Brief Summary

Combination therapy with peginterferon plus ribavirin has become the current standard of care for chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients, with an overall sustained virologic response (SVR) rate of 54-63%. Based on the ample evidence, a 48-week course of peginterferon plus weight-based ribavirin therapy is widely recommended to treat HCV genotype 1 infection in different parts of the world. Despite the increased SVR rates with the improved medical therapies, about 25-50% and 10-20% of HCV genotype 1 and HCV genotype 2/3 patients may experience relapse after the cessation of therapy with undetectable HCV viremia at the end of treatment. Moreover, combination therapy is costly and may cause various adverse events. Therefore, individualized therapy based on outcome analysis should be adopted to save medical cost as well as to lessen inadequate treatment. Few studies are aimed to evaluate the host responses of micro RNA regulation during interferon-based therapy and its relationships to the overall treatment responses. Micro RNA (miRNA) is a single-stand RNA composed of 21-23 nucleotides, which may regulate the function of messenger RNA (mRNA). The regulating mechanisms involving micro RNA between the hosts and the HCV virus include (1) auto-regulation of HCV mRNA by HCV miRNA; (2) regulation of host mRNA by HCV miRNA; and (3) regulation of HCV mRNA by host miRNA. MiR-122 is the abundant liver-specific miRNA which is crucial for efficient HCV replication in culture Huh7 cells stably expressing HCV replicons. Recently, an in vivo study for hepatic miR-122 of 42 patients with CHC who received IFN-based therapy showed that patients who did not respond to IFN therapy had markedly decreased pretreatment miR-122 levels. Although miR-122 is abundant in the liver, liver biopsy is still considered an invasive procedure, which prevents its widespread use in routine clinical practice. The miRNA can be detected in the sera and is stable after 24 hours of room temperature store or repeated freezing and de-freezing. The serum miR-122 levels can reflect the severity of liver injuries in a rat acetaminophen toxicity model. Because miR-122 is liver specific and the miRNA is stable in the sera, the investigators aimed to evaluate the role of serum and hepatic miR-122 on the viral kinetics and the treatment responses and in HCV patients receiving peginterferon and ribavirin combination therapy.

Trial Health

43
At Risk

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Trial has exceeded expected completion date
Enrollment
200

participants targeted

Target at P75+ for all trials

Timeline
Completed

Started Sep 2009

Geographic Reach
1 country

5 active sites

Status
unknown

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

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Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

Study Start

First participant enrolled

September 1, 2009

Completed
15 days until next milestone

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

September 16, 2009

Completed
2 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

September 18, 2009

Completed
12 months until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

September 1, 2010

Completed
3 months until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

December 1, 2010

Completed
Last Updated

March 26, 2010

Status Verified

March 1, 2010

Enrollment Period

1 year

First QC Date

September 16, 2009

Last Update Submit

March 25, 2010

Conditions

Keywords

Hepatitis CPeginterferonRibavirinMicroRNA

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

  • Serum micro RNA-122 and sustained virologic response (SVR)

    18 months

Study Arms (2)

Peg-IFN + RBV with SVR

HCV patients receiving peginterferon alfa-2a and ribavirin with sustained virologic response

Peg-IFN + RBV without SVR

HCV patients receiving peginterferon alfa-2a and ribavirin without sustained virologic response

Eligibility Criteria

Age18 Years+
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersNo
Age GroupsAdult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
Sampling MethodNon-Probability Sample
Study Population

Patients with chronic hepatitis C receving combination therapy with peginterferon alfa-2a and ribavirin

You may qualify if:

  • Treatment naïve
  • Age 18 and older than 18 years old
  • Anti-HCV (Abbott HCV EIA 2.0, Abbott Diagnostic, Chicago, IL) positive \> 6 months
  • Detectable serum quantitative HCV-RNA (Cobas Taqman v2.0, Roche Diagnostics)
  • Serum alanine aminotransferase levels above the upper limit of normal with 6 months of enrollment
  • A liver biopsy consistent with the diagnosis of chronic hepatitis C
  • Receive 24 or 48 weeks of PEG-IFN alfa plus ribavirin (1,000 mg/day for BW \< 75 kg; 1,200 mg/day for BW ≥ 75 kg for HCV genotype 1; 800 mg/day for HCV genotype 2)

You may not qualify if:

  • Anemia (hemoglobin \< 13 gram per deciliter for men and \< 12 gram per deciliter for women)
  • Neutropenia (neutrophil count \<1,500 per cubic milliliter)
  • Thrombocytopenia (platelet \<90,000 per cubic milliliter)
  • Co-infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
  • Mixed HCV genotype 1 with other genotype infection
  • Chronic alcohol abuse (daily consumption \> 20 gram per day)
  • Decompensated liver disease (Child-Pugh class B or C)
  • Serum creatinine level more than 1.5 times the upper limit of normal
  • Autoimmune liver disease
  • Neoplastic disease
  • An organ transplant
  • Immunosuppressive therapy
  • Poorly controlled autoimmune diseases, pulmonary diseases, cardiac diseases, psychiatric diseases, neurological diseases, diabetes mellitus
  • Evidence of drug abuse
  • Unwilling to have contraception
  • +1 more criteria

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (5)

National Taiwan University Hospital, Yun-Lin Branch

Douliu, Taiwan

RECRUITING

Kinmen Hospital

Kimmen, Taiwan

RECRUITING

National Taiwan University Hospital

Taipei, 10002, Taiwan

RECRUITING

Far Eastern Memorial Hospital

Taipei, Taiwan

RECRUITING

Taipei Municipal Hospital, Ren-Ai Branch

Taipei, Taiwan

RECRUITING

Biospecimen

Retention: SAMPLES WITHOUT DNA

Serum and hepatic micro RNA-122

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Hepatitis C

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Blood-Borne InfectionsCommunicable DiseasesInfectionsHepatitis, Viral, HumanVirus DiseasesFlaviviridae InfectionsRNA Virus InfectionsHepatitisLiver DiseasesDigestive System Diseases

Study Officials

  • Chen-Hua Liu, MD

    National Taiwan University Hospital

    STUDY CHAIR
  • Jia-Horng Kao, MD, PhD

    National Taiwan University Hospital

    STUDY DIRECTOR
  • Tung-Hung Su, MD

    Kimmen Hospital

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
  • Cheng-Chao Liang, MD, BS

    Far Estern Menorial Hospital

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
  • Chih-Lin Lin, MD, BS

    Taipei Municipal Hospital, Ren-Ai Branch

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
  • Shih-Jer Hsu, MD

    National Taiwan University Hospital, Yun-Lin Branch

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Jia-Horng Kao, MD, PhD

CONTACT

Study Design

Study Type
observational
Observational Model
CASE CONTROL
Time Perspective
CROSS SECTIONAL
Sponsor Type
OTHER

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

September 16, 2009

First Posted

September 18, 2009

Study Start

September 1, 2009

Primary Completion

September 1, 2010

Study Completion

December 1, 2010

Last Updated

March 26, 2010

Record last verified: 2010-03

Locations