Hepatitis C Virus Dynamics In Vivo: Effect of Ribavirin and Interferon Alfa on Viral Turnover

table 2. Kinetic Data of HCV and ALT and AST Turnover in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Responding to Treatment With rIFN- Alone or in Combination With Ribavirin (14 mg/kg of body weight)

Kinetic Parameter	3 × 3 MU rIFN–= SRC=”b_alpha.gif”> (N = 10)	3 × 6 MU rIFN–= SRC=”b_alpha.gif”> (N = 10)	3 × 6 MU rIFN–= SRC=”b_alpha.gif”> + ribavirin (N = 10)

HCV RNA
B₀^RNA (10⁶/mL)	7.19 ± 14.01	7.13 ± 6.76	9.49 ± 10.99
t_1/2 (ln 2/k₁) (d)	2.28 ± 1.17	2.54 ± 2.10	1.99 ± 1.70
t_1/2 (ln 2/k₂) (d)	0.67 ± 0.36	0.23 ± 0.15	0.18 ± 0.19
ALT
B₀^ALT (U/L)	83.1 ± 56.1	84.0 ± 49.7	58.7 ± 28.8
B^ALT (U/L)	8.9 ± 2.5	14.6 ± 7.1	9.7 ± 3.4
t_1/2 (ln 2/k₃) (d)	4.3 ± 4.4	3.2 ± 2.5	7.8 ± 9.4
t_1/2 (ln 2/k₄) (d)	3.5 ± 1.5	3.7 ± 2.1	4.3 ± 3.4
AST
B₀^AST (U/L)	31.3 ± 15.5	37.9 ± 17.9	29.1 ± 10.4
B^AST (U/L)	8.8 ± 1.8	12.3 ± 4.6	10.5 ± 2.4
t_1/2 (ln 2/k₃) (d)	4.1 ± 5.0	2.7 ± 3.0	5.2 ± 5.9
t_1/2 (ln 2/k₄) (d)	3.4 ± 2.0	3.4 ± 1.8	3.3 ± 3.4