The research shows that the effects of supplementation are particularly strong in patients whose infection was proving difficult to treat effectively with the standard treatment of interferon (peg IFN) and ribavirin – which clears the virus in about 50% of patients infected with genotype 1 HCV and 80% of those infected with genotypes 2 or 3.
However, experimental research dating back a decade suggests that vitamin B12 could have a role in suppressing HCV. The researchers therefore wanted to see if supplementation with vitamin B12 in addition to standard treatment would make a difference.
Ninety four patients with HCV infection were randomly allocated to receive standard treatment or standard treatment plus vitamin B12 (5000 ug every 4 weeks) for between 24 (genotypes 2 and 3) and 48 weeks (genotype 1).
The body’s ability to clear the virus was assessed after 4 weeks (rapid viral response), after 12 weeks (complete early viral response), at the end of treatment and at 24 weeks after stopping treatment (sustained viral response).
There was no difference between the two treatment approaches at 4 weeks, but there were significant differences in response at all the other time points, particularly after 24 weeks.
Overall, adding vitamin B12 to standard therapy strengthened the rate of sustained viral response by 34%, the researchers said.
Source: Gut
Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2012-302344
“Vitamin B12 supplementation improves rates of sustained viral response in patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus”
Authors: Alba Rocco, Debora Compare, Pietro Coccoli, Ciro Esposito, Antimo Di Spirito, Antonio Barbato, et al
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