FRIDAY, June 17 (HealthDay News) -- Patients receiving hepatitis C therapy who drink three or more cups of coffee per day are more likely to respond to treatment compared to nondrinkers, according to a study published the June issue of Gastroenterology.
Neal D. Freedman, Ph.D., M.P.H., from the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Md., and colleagues investigated the effect of coffee intake on patients receiving therapy for hepatitis C. Coffee intake was assessed in 885 patients before being re-treated with 180 µg/week peginterferon alpha-2a and 1000 to 1200 mg/day ribavirin. Serum hepatitis C virus RNA levels were assessed to indicate virologic response in 466 patients at week 12 (early response), in 320 patients at week 20, in 284 patients at the end of treatment (week 48), and in 157 patients at 72 weeks (sustained response).
The investigators found that the median log10 hepatitis C RNA decrease from baseline to 20 weeks was significantly different for nondrinkers and for those who drank three or more cups of coffee a day (2.0 and 4.0, respectively). Compared to nondrinkers, those who drank three or more cups of coffee per day had an increased likelihood of a virologic response (odds ratio, 2.0 for early virologic response, 2.1 at week 20, 2.4 at the end of treatment, and 1.8 for sustained virologic response), after adjusting for confounders.
"High-level consumption of coffee (more than three cups per day) is an independent predictor of improved virologic response to peginterferon plus ribavirin in patients with hepatitis C," the authors write.
One of the study authors disclosed a financial relationship with the pharmaceutical industry, including Hoffmann-La Roche (now Genentech), which partially funded the study.
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