Ribavirin Info

Question

Anybody know where to find some good scholarly articles about how ribavirin works?  Links? URLs? Just curious.  I’ve been able to find a lot about interferon and the new 1a meds but my knowledge of ribavirin is lacking.  Thanks.

mikesimon · Accepted Answer

Ribavirin in the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C
Paul Martin; Donald M. Jensen
Posted: 09/04/2008; 

"...Results: 
Ribavirin may be effective in treating CHC by affecting the virus or the host; for example by inducing viral mutations, blocking cellular enzymes, or affecting the host immune response. Although the pegylated interferons are the primary drugs used to treat CHC, a combination with ribavirin is more effective than pegylated interferon alone. Ribavirin-associated AE may be lessened by ribavirin dose reductions and by maintenance of the hematocrit..."

See: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/578705

Ribavirin improves early responses to peginterferon through improved interferon signaling.
Gastroenterology. 2010 Jul;139

The therapeutic mechanisms of ribavirin for hepatitis C are unclear. Microarray analyses have shown that ribavirin increases induction of interferon-stimulated genes. We evaluated viral kinetics, serum cytokine expression, and viral mutagenesis during early stages of peginterferon therapy with and without ribavirin.
METHODS:

Fifty patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection genotype 1 were randomly assigned to groups that were given peginterferon alpha-2a, with or without ribavirin, for 4 weeks; all patients then received an additional 44 weeks of combination therapy. First- and second-phase viral kinetics were evaluated. Serum levels of interferon-gamma-inducible protein-10 (IP10), monokine induced by interferon-gamma, and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 were quantified as measures of the interferon-stimulated genes response. NS5A and NS5B were partially sequenced, and mutation rates were calculated.
RESULTS:

The first-phase decrease in HCV RNA was similar between groups. Patients who received ribavirin had a more rapid second-phase decrease, compared with patients who did not receive ribavirin-particularly those with an adequate first-phase decrease (0.61 vs 0.35 log10 IU/mL/week; P = .018). At 12 hours, fold induction of serum IP10 was higher in patients given the combination therapy than those given peginterferon only (7.6- vs 3.8-fold; P = .01); however, the difference was greatest in patients with an adequate first-phase decrease in HCV RNA. IP10-induction correlated with first- and second-phase kinetics and with ribavirin serum concentrations on day 3. HCV mutation rates were similar between groups.
CONCLUSIONS:

Ribavirin improves the kinetics of the early response to therapy in patients with an adequate initial response to peginterferon. Induction of interferon-stimulated cytokines correlates with viral kinetics following ribavirin therapy, suggesting that ribavirin promotes interferon signaling.

See: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20303352

Ribavirin potentiates interferon action by augmenting interferon-stimulated gene induction 
Hepatology. 2011 Jan;53

The combination of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin is the standard treatment for chronic hepatitis C. Our recent clinical study suggests that ribavirin augments the induction of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) in patients treated for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. In order to further characterize the mechanisms of action of ribavirin, we examined the effect of ribavirin treatment on ISG induction in cell culture. In addition, the effect of ribavirin on infectious HCV cell culture systems was studied. Similar to interferon (IFN)-α, ribavirin potently inhibits JFH-1 infection of Huh7.5.1 cells in a dose-dependent manner, which spans the physiological concentration of ribavirin in vivo. Microarray analysis and subsequent quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays demonstrated that ribavirin treatment resulted in the induction of a distinct set of ISGs. These ISGs, including IFN regulatory factors 7 and 9, are known to play an important role in anti-HCV responses. When ribavirin is used in conjunction with IFN-α, induction of specific ISGs is synergistic when compared with either drug applied separately. Direct up-regulation of these antiviral genes by ribavirin is mediated by a novel mechanism different from those associated with IFN signaling and intracellular double-stranded RNA sensing pathways such as RIG-I and MDA5. RNA interference studies excluded the activation of the Toll-like receptor and nuclear factor κB pathways in the action of ribavirin. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that ribavirin, acting by way of a novel innate mechanism, potentiates the anti-HCV effect of IFN. Understanding the mechanism of action of ribavirin would be valuable in identifying novel antivirals.

See: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21254160

I believe that ribavirin's affect is more than just mutagenic although that certainly is significant.

Mike

curiouslady1 · Answer

What about Ribaviron without IFN?  I am in a trial with Riba along with DAAs.  What will that do?  I will ask the doc if I get in that arm but interested in what others have to say.

lynda607 · Answer

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000301/

beeblessed · Answer

HeyKirk,

Here is a statement that I found and another link below that.  Hope it helps.

ScienceDaily (Dec. 11, 2000) — December 7, 2000 — The antiviral drug ribavirin works by creating such extreme mutation rates in viruses that it drives them into "genetic meltdown," according to researchers. Uncovering the mechanism by which ribavirin disables viruses offers researchers information that can be used to design more effective antiviral drugs. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribavirin
There are also a ton of references and additional links at the bottom of that page.

Ribavirin Info

Over 9 million RNC's quantitative viral load of Hep C

HCV Rna pcr qualitative test at 35 days accurate ?

How likely is a false positive HCV AB test?

need to know what test results show for hep c

Over 9 million RNC's quantitative viral load of Hep C

HCV Rna pcr qualitative test at 35 days accurate ?

How likely is a false positive HCV AB test?

need to know what test results show for hep c

You are reading content posted in the Hepatitis C Community