Differences in viral kinetics between genotypes 1 and 3 of hepatitis C virus and between cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic patients during antiviral therapy

Figure 1 Mean viral decline over time in each IFN dosing schedule group for HCV genotype 1 (A) and genotype 3 (B) non-cirrhotic patients. Note that on the first day (vertical line) all groups received 9 MU IFN and had a similar 1st phase decline. A transient rebound was then observed until d 3 in patients who switched to a lower 3 MU IFN dose. Furthermore, patients on a dosing schedule of 3 TIW or 3 Q2D showed viral rebounds on the days they did not receive IFN (d 5-7 for the 3 TIW group and d 5-6 and 7-8 for the 3 Q2D group) in both genotype 1 and 3 patients. However, patients with genotype 3 continued a rapid 2nd phase decline albeit the dosing related transient viral rebounds.