What does "interferon pegilado" mean?
I'm reading an article about this new kind of treatment for people with HIV and hepatitis C, which I didn't know could happen but is actually common as one disease allows room for another to spread, weakens some part of the body so that it's susceptible to the other disease...anyway!
I'm trying to figure out what this means: "Interferón pegilado".
It says "Se les sometió a un nuevo tratamiento a base de interferón pegilado y ribavirina en dosis ajustadas al peso."
I think here it's talking about the people who volunteered to be a part of the study, who had HIV and hepatitis C. But if you could figure out what this means for me, that'd be great!
2 Answers
Hi masterofspan,
I am a professional biologist, an amateur Spanish enthusiast, and have had a parent who has undergone this type of treatment for HCV, and this is what I understand of the subject.
Se les sometió a un nuevo tratamiento a base de interferón pegilado y ribavirina en dosis ajustadas al peso."
They participated in a new treatment of pegylated interferon and ribavarin with dosing based upon the weight of the subject.
The synergistic drug combination of pegylated interferon and ribavarin is the currently preferred method of treating the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Previously, the disease had been treated with interferon alone, but adding a polyethelyne glycol side chain to the interferon backbone - a process known as pegylation - was found to increase the drug's bioavailability (in terms of longevity within the body). This allows a decrease in the need for injections from 3 times a week to only once a week. This is an important aspect of the newer treatment in that, often, the side effects following injections are often severe in terms of nausea and depression.
Additionally, treatments combining Peg-Interferon with Ribavarin have been shown to increase the response rates for most populations (works well on the most common viral genotypes found in the population that cause the disease).
The portion regarding the dosing based on the weight may have something to do with an interest in mediating the often debilitating side effects that these drugs can have.
Interferon pegylated or recombinant Interferon
It's Interferon in a specific delivery form. I have no idea just how it works, but that's the translation.
