Role of statins in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

This study assessed the clinical outcome of fluvastatin in addition to the standard regimen used now for treatment of chronic hcv in egypt. a total of 80 patients with chronic hepatitis c virus infection fulfilled clinical,laboratory and histo-pathological criteria were ready for interferon therapy. they were divided into two groups: gi (n = 40) received standard treatment for hcv (pegylated interferon and ribavirin) and gii (n = 40) received standard treatment plus fluvastatin (80 mg/daily). six months before and after treatment liver function tests and hcv-rna were evaluated. the results showed that addition of fluvastatin to the standard hcv treatment (pegylated interferon and ribavirin) significantly increased sustained virological response (svr) from (55%-62.5%; p < 0.01) and significantly decreased viral load in relapse patients (p < 0.001). no significant differences and correlations were found between serum levels of ldl-cholesterol and viral load before and after treatment in both groups.