Ghrelin's second life - World Journal of Gastroenterology

tration of IFN or RBV, and therefore how to prevent
the reduction in blood cells as a side effect is important.
Nagamine et al [43] conducted a basic study on the
activity of IFN-α in U937 cells in order to elucidate
whether zinc would enhance the action of interferon.
They found that zinc chloride and polaprezinc increased
IFNAR mRNA by 30% to 40%, whereas monotherapy
of L-carnosine had no such effect, suggesting that zinc
enhanced the action of interferon and induced the production
of anti-viral proteins. Hence, many cases of liver
disease are accompanied by complaints of symptoms in
the mouth such as dysgeusia, dry mouth and stomatitis
when treated with PEG-IFN/RBV. Zinc supplement
seems to be effective against oral mucosa disorders in
IFN therapy treatment.
A new antiviral drug called DAA became covered by
the public health insurance system in Japan. Hence, the
treatment of choice for cases with a high quantity of
genotype 1 virus is likely to be DAA + PEG-IFN α-2b
+ RBV combination therapy (the “3-drug therapy”).
However, it has been reported that this therapy causes
side effects such as severe hemoglobin reduction or severe
rash, and many side effects in elderly patients.
Zinc supplementation to reduce such side effects
may be the key to developing more effective anti-viral
therapies. As this paper has suggested, the administration
of zinc in many clinical cases requires further study.
Prospective double-blind studies with large sample sizes
are necessary.
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3199 July 7, 2012|Volume 18|Issue 25|