This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Liver/ Biliary Tract/ Pancreatic Diseases  • HIV/AIDS  • Viral Infections  • Alert me on articles by topic

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

To the Editor: Dr Carrat and colleagues¹ compared ribavirin combined with either pegylated interferon or standard interferon for treatment of hepatitis C in patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Their results are consistent with previous studies in HIV-seronegative persons, which showed that viral load reduction correlates with improvement in hepatic function.² However, there are 2 issues I would like to address.

First, the correlation of viral load reduction with a reduction in extrahepatic manifestations of HCV infection has not been well studied. Symptoms of neurological dysfunction are thought to arise as a parainfectious immune response to HCV mediated by cryoglobulins and rheumatoid factor.³ While interferons are often administered, their efficacy for these symptoms has not been definitely proven. Do the authors have data on cryoglobulin levels, rheumatoid factor titers, or the prevalence of neurological disease manifestations for their study participants?

Second, this study demonstrated . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Daniel L. Menkes, MD
dmenkes@utmem.edu
Department of Medicine
University of Tennessee
Memphis

RELATED ARTICLES

Pegylated Interferon vs Standard Interferon for Chronic Hepatitis C—Reply
Fabrice Carrat, Firouzé Bani-Sadr, Patrice Cacoub, Stanislas Pol, Christian Perronne, and for the ANRS HC02-RIBAVIC Study Team
JAMA. 2005;293(11):1323-1324.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Pegylated Interferon Alfa-2b vs Standard Interferon Alfa-2b, Plus Ribavirin, for Chronic Hepatitis C in HIV-Infected Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Fabrice Carrat, Firouzé Bani-Sadr, Stanislas Pol, Eric Rosenthal, Françoise Lunel-Fabiani, Asmae Benzekri, Patrice Morand, Cécile Goujard, Gilles Pialoux, Lionel Piroth, Dominique Salmon-Céron, Claude Degott, Patrice Cacoub, Christian Perronne, and for the ANRS HCO2 RIBAVIC Study Team
JAMA. 2004;292(23):2839-2848.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Of studies, syntheses, synopses, summaries, and systems: the "5S" evolution of information services for evidence-based healthcare decisions
Haynes
Evid. Based Nurs. 2007;10:6-7.
FULL TEXT  

Of studies, syntheses, synopses, summaries, and systems: the "5S" evolution of information services for evidence-based healthcare decisions
Brian Haynes
Evid. Based Med. 2006;11:162-164.
FULL TEXT