Exam 1: Liver Pharmacology(completed and graded for 93% pass)

What are the preventative measures for hepatitis? Hep A Series •2 doses 6 months apart Recommendation ----All children beginning at age 12 months ---Special “high risk” populations ------Poor sanitation (fecal-oral route) Hep B Series •3 doses at least 4 months apart Recommendation: All infants beginning as newborns •Hep C = NO vaccine Hep C -no vaccine What are the two drug classes used for chronic HBV? -interferons -nucleoside analogs 00:39 01:08 For which patients are hepatitis antiviral therapy indicated? Treatment is reserved for only HIGH-RISK patients -elevated AST levels -hepatic inflammation -advanced fibrosis Why do only high risk patients with hepatitis receive therapy? •Prolonged therapy •Costs and adverse effects •High relapse: if they have chronic hepatitis and they stop therapy, then the hepatitis can come back. Which patients with hepatitis C are recommended for antiviral therapy? Patients w/ Chronic Disease -providers can measure the viral load in the blood to tell -have persistently high ALT -hepatic fibrosis and inflammation present. What are the considerations when prescribing an antiviral therapy r/t hepatitis C? -not all Hep C viruses are the same, so the patient must undergo genotype testing to match the genotype they have with the medication that can go after that genotype. What are interferons in the human body? a protein released usually in response to the entry of a virus, which has the property of inhibiting virus replication What drug class does pegylated interferon-alfa belong to? Immuno-modulator agents What is pegylation? Process that attaches polyethylene glycol (PEG) to an interferon delay the elimination of the drug from the body. MOA of pegylated interferon alfa -reprograms virus-infected cells and inhibits virus replication -prevents virus from replicating Combined w/ Ribavirin -inhibits production of viruses/viral RNA polymerases Indication for Pegylated Interferon Alfa -HBV -HCV (d/t 80% chronic) What is pegylated interferon alfa combined with to improve response rates in the treatment of HCV? Ribavirin 00:00