The optimal dose of ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C: From literature evidence to clinical practice

Approximately 170 million people worldwide are chronically infected by hepatitis c virus (hcv), which can result in progressive hepatic injury and fibrosis, culminating in cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease. the benchmark therapy for untreated hcv patients is a combination of pegylated interferon-alpha (peg-ifn) and ribavirin (rbv). several studies have suggested several potential new approaches to improve hcv therapy— optimization of the dose and duration of rbv therapy, accompanied by careful clinical management, is crucial in ensuring the greatest likelihood of a long response to therapy. rbv causes serious side effects, but in clinical practice, there are no alternatives for the treatment of hcv infection. based on our results, weight-based doses of rbv are advantageous for genotype 1-infected patients, but its success in genotype 2-and 3-infected patients is unknown, particularly for shorter treatment durations.