Vitamin B-12 jabs may help treat hepatitis C

StephenW

Digestive health centre

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
   
    Vitamin B-12 jabs may help treat hepatitis C    Having regular vitamin B-12 jabs during treatment for hepatitis C can help clear the infection, suggests a study. These injections may be particularly helpful for people with a hard-to-treat form of the virus, called type 1.
                By      Sophie   Ramsey
              BMJ Group News
                
      
   
    What do we know already?             
    Hepatitis C is an infection that can damage your liver. You can get the virus if blood from an infected person gets into your body - for example, by sharing needles to inject drugs. There are six types of hepatitis, but most people have types 1, 2, or 3. Type 1 is more difficult to treat than type 2 or 3.
    The standard treatment for hepatitis C involves taking drugs called pegylated interferon and ribavirin for several months. These treatments get rid of the infection for about 50 in 100 people who have type 1, and between 60 in 100 and 80 in 100 people who have type 2 or 3.
    Some research has raised the possibility that vitamin B-12 might also help people to clear the infection. Laboratory studies have shown the vitamin can help stop the hepatitis C virus from growing. And other research has found that people with hepatitis C are sometimes low on this nutrient.
    To test this theory, researchers randomly assigned 94 people with hepatitis C to have either vitamin B-12 jabs along with standard treatment, or to have standard treatment on its own. They then recorded how many people had signs of the virus in their blood after four and 12 weeks of treatment, at the end of treatment, and 24 weeks after treatment.
                    Hepatitis C: Basics, prevention and symptoms
   
        What does the new study say?    After four weeks, there was no significant difference between the groups in how many people were virus-free. However, after the first four weeks, those who had the vitamin B-12 jabs were more likely to be free of the virus, both during and after treatment.
    For example, 12 weeks after starting treatment, 40 in 47 people who had the jabs had no signs of the virus, compared with 30 in 47 people who didn't have the jabs. The numbers were similar at the end of treatment.
    Twenty-four weeks after treatment had ended, the virus was again detectable in some people's blood. However, this was less likely for those who had vitamin B-12 jabs. Thirty-four in 47 people who had the injections still had no signs of the virus after 24 weeks, compared with 18 in 47 people who hadn't had the jabs.
    Vitamin B-12 injections seemed to be particularly helpful for two hard-to-treat groups: people with type 1 hepatitis C and those with high amounts of the virus in their blood at the start of treatment. For example, among those with type 1, 20 out of 32 people who had the injections had no signs of the virus 24 weeks after treatment had ended, compared with 7 out of 32 people who did not have the jabs.
    People who had vitamin B-12 injections were given 5,000 micrograms (mcg) every four weeks. They were no more likely to have side effects than those who did not have the jabs.

How reliable is the research?    This was a good-quality study and it was well-conducted. However, it is the first study to explore having B-12 jabs as an extra treatment in hepatitis C and it was fairly small. We need larger studies to confirm its findings.
    What does this mean for me?    If you've been diagnosed with hepatitis C, having vitamin B-12 injections along with standard treatment may help you get rid of the virus. These injections may be especially beneficial if you have high amounts of the virus in your blood or you have type 1 hepatitis C, which can be more difficult to treat than other types.
    It's worth noting that two promising medicines - boceprevir and telaprevir - have recently been recommended for treatment of type 1 hepatitis C on the NHS, in combination with standard treatment. However, questions still remain about how well these drugs work in practice, their side effects, and who benefits most. Until more is known, vitamin B-12 jabs may provide a safe and helpful alternative for some people, say the researchers.
  

StephenW

消化系统的健康中心




维生素B-12刺戳可能有助于治疗丙型肝炎
有C型肝炎治疗期间定期维生素B-12刺戳可以帮助清除感染，建议的研究。这些注射可能是一个病毒难以处理的形式，称为1型，人特别有帮助。
梁刘柔芬拉姆齐

英国医学杂志集团新闻


丙型肝炎是一种病毒感染，可能会损坏你的肝脏。如果你可以得到病毒感染者的血液进入你的身体得到 - 例如，通过共用针头注射毒品。有六种类型的肝炎，但大多数人有1型，2或3。 1型，2型或3比治疗更加困难。

丙型肝炎的标准治疗包括服用药物称为聚乙二醇干扰素和利巴韦林几个月。这些治疗获得摆脱感染约50 100人有1型，60至100和80 100人，有2型或3。

一些研究提出，维生素B-12也可能帮助人们清除感染的可能性。实验室研究表明，维生素可以帮助停止生长的丙型肝炎病毒。和其他研究发现，C型肝炎的人有时对这种营养低。

为了验证这一理论，研究人员随机分配94人丙型肝炎的标准治疗，或有自己的标准治疗无论是维生素B-12刺戳。然后，他们记录有多少人在他们的血液中病毒的迹象后4和12周的治疗，在治疗结束，治疗24周后。



四个星期后，有多少人无病毒组间无显著差异。然而，前四个星期后，维生素B-12刺戳期间和治疗后，病毒更容易。

例如，有没有病毒的迹象，12周后开始治疗，在47人的刺戳40比30在47人没有足够的刺戳。在治疗结束后的数字分别为相似。

二十四星期治疗后已经结束，该病毒再次在一些人的血液检测。然而，这是不太可能为那些谁了维生素B-12刺戳。 36个中有47人注射24周后，病毒仍然有没有迹象显示，47人，谁没有过的刺戳18。

维生素B-12注射似乎是两个难以治疗组特别有用：1型丙型肝炎和高，其血液中的病毒量在开始治疗的人。例如，有没有病毒治疗24周后结束的迹象，其中1型，20个32人注射，较7 32人，谁不有刺戳。

维生素B-12注射5000微克（微克）每四个星期。他们更可能有副作用比那些没有的刺戳。
是研究如何可靠？

这是一个好品质的研究，这是有效地开展。然而，它是第一个研究，探讨作为额外的治疗丙型肝炎的B-12刺戳，这是相当小的。我们需要更大规模的研究，以确认其结果。
这是什么意思我吗？

如果你已经确诊患有丙型肝炎，随着标准治疗维生素B-12注射可以帮助你清除病毒。这些注射可能是有益的，如果你有你的血液中病毒的高含量，或你有1型丙型肝炎，这可能更加困难比其他类型的治疗。

值得注意的是，两个有前途的药物 -  boceprevir和telaprevir治疗 - 最近被推荐为治疗1型丙型肝炎的NHS在与标准治疗相结合，。然而，问题仍然是这些药物在实际工作如何，它们的副作用，谁获益最多。直到有更多的被称为维生素B-12刺戳可能为一些人提供一个安全和有益的替代，研究人员说。