De novo membrano-proliferative nephritis following interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis c (case study and literature review)

HCV infects approximately 2-3 % of the global population and is a leading cause of end-stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. Antiviral treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin eradicates HCV in many patients, while 40-90 % of patients on pegylated IFN plus ribavirin have sustained viral clearance [1]. However, IFNbased therapy is limited by frequent and, at times, serious adverse effects which represent an important barrier to treatment delivery. In clinical trials, approximately 10-15 % of patients discontinue peg-IFN and ribavirin therapy due to adverse effects, but, in clinical practice, the rate of treatment interruption is probably higher. Combined antiviral therapy (conventional or pegylated IFN plus ribavirin) impacts most, if not all, organ systems. According to the KULDS Group, the rate of treatment discontinuation was 8.7 % (n = 250) in a total of 2,871 Japanese patients who had chronic HCV treated with peg- IFN a-2b and RBV [1].