E-Mail karger@karger.com Original Paper Intervirology 2017;60:75–81 DOI: 10.1159/000481913 Evaluation of Temporal Virological Responses to Interferon-α-2b plus Ribavirin among Genotype 3a Hepatitis C Virus-Infected Patients Abida Raza a Muhammad Ovais b Hafsa Aziz c Asim Anwar c Javaid Irfan c Irshad Ahmad d Muhammad Mukhtar e a National Institute for Lasers and Optronics, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, b Department of Biotechnology, Quaid-i-Azam University, and c Nuclear Medicine, Oncology and Radiotherapy Institute NORI, Islamabad, Pakistan; d Department of Life Sciences, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; e Department of Biotechnology, American University of Ras al-Khaimah, Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates RVR (85.9%) and EVR (69.0%), although nonresponders were found in both groups. Conclusions: Individuals incompliant with their treatment who have a higher RVR significantly in- fluence their SVR towards a better remission that can be treated within a short duration with standard treatment. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel Introduction Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of liver-asso- ciated diseases throughout the world. Approximately 3% of the world’s population is chronically infected by HCV, which is due to a high degree of sequence variability in the HCV genome [1]. It is a positive-stranded RNA virus that belongs to the genus Hepacivirus of the Flaviviridae fam- ily. The viral infection causes different liver manifesta- tions, such as liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and certain extrahepatic manifestations (cryoglobulinae- Keywords Antiviral therapy · Hepatitis C virus · Interferon-α-2b · Ribavirin · Sustained virological response · Viral load Abstract Objectives: The present study aimed to examine the impact of rapid virological response (RVR) and early virological re- sponse (EVR) on sustained virological response (SVR) in chronic hepatitis C genotype 3a individuals. Methods: The patients were given antiviral therapy with IFN-α-2b, 3 million units 3 times a week and 800–1,200 mg of ribavirin daily ad- justed to the patient’s body weight (<60 kg 800 mg day −1 , and >60 kg 1,200 day −1 ). The patients received this combina- tion therapy for 24 weeks. The patients were evaluated for their viral load at week 4, 12, and 24 using RT-PCR. Results: Out of 1,471 patients, 43.3% showed a negative viral load in week 4, demonstrating RVR, whereas 56.6% maintained a high viral load. These were further separated based on viral reduction in their plasma: either negative for HCV-RNA at week 12 ( n = 575), manifesting EVR, or showing a 2-log re- duction in HCV viral load classified as partial EVR (PEVR; n = 259). The PEVR response was less (29.7%) compared with Received: October 12, 2016 Accepted: October 3, 2017 Published online: November 16, 2017 Dr. Irshad Ahmad Department of Life Sciences King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Dhahran 34464 (Saudi Arabia) E-Mail irshad  @  kfupm.edu.sa Dr. Abida Raza National Institute of Lasers and Optronics Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Islamabad 44000 (Pakistan) E-Mail abida_rao  @  yahoo.com © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel www.karger.com/int