Eicosapentaenoic acid could permit maintenance of the original ribavirin dose in chronic hepatitis C virus patients during the first 12 weeks of combination therapy with pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) against ribavirin (RBV)-associated hemolytic anemia during the first 12 weeks in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) combination therapy. Methods: This study was a prospective open-label, randomized controlled trial. 100 HCV patients were randomized to either the EPA group (n = 49) or non-EPA group ( n = 51) who received combination therapy with or without EPA. We compared the changes in hemoglobin level and RBV plasma concentrations at week 12 in each group with RBV dose reduction rate and performed multivariate analysis to identify independent variables associated with RBV dose reduction. Results: 8 patients (17%) in the EPA group and 20 patients (29%) in the non-EPA group required RBV dose reduction, respectively. The cumulative RBV reduction rate was significantly lower in the EPA group than in the non-EPA group (p = 0.017), while the decrease of hemoglobin and RBV plasma concentrations from baseline was not significantly different. However, in the multivariate analysis, treatment with EPA showed significant variables for the reduction of RBV dose (odds ratio 3.235, p = 0.023). Conclusion: EPA could prevent the RBV dose reduction during the first 12 weeks in combination therapy, although further large-scale double-blind randomized controlled trials are required. Copyright (c) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.