In another analysis of RFHE3001, Sanyal and colleagues investigated the relationship between venous ammonia concentrations, breakthrough HE, and rifaximin treatment. Blood ammonia has been proposed as a useful marker of the severity of overt HE, as elevated ammonia levels are associated with the pathogenesis of overt HE and the development of central nervous system effects. [...]

Muir and colleagues reported results from Study 107, an open-label rollover study evaluating the addition of telaprevir to peginterferon alfa-2a and ribavirin in patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) who did not attain sustained virologic response (SVR) with peginterferon/ribavirin during a phase II trial of telaprevir. The study included null responders (patients [...]

Rifaximin (Xifaxan, Salix) is a broad-spectrum oral antibiotic that is gut-selective and minimally absorbed. The agent has demonstrated efficacy in acute hepatic encephalopathy (HE). The randomized, double-blind, multinational, phase III trial RFHE3001, conducted in 299 patients with cirrhosis and a history of recurrent overt episodic HE, showed that rifaximin reduces the risk of breakthrough overt [...]

Manns and colleagues presented results of a pooled analysis evaluating the efficacy of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF; Viread, Gilead) in patients with suboptimal response to adefovir dipivoxil (ADV; Hepsera, Gilead). The analysis included patients enrolled across 3 clinical trials: Study 102 (in hepatitis B e antigen [HBeAg]-neg-ative patients), Study 103 (in HBeAg-positive patients), and Study [...]