Double Filtration Plasmapheresis for Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Genotype 1 Patients With High Viral Load

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, a leading cause of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver transplantation, affects approximately 170 million individuals worldwide. The prevention of HCV transmission and early intervention of HCV infection are urgently needed to reduce or halt the liver-related morbidity and mortality. Double filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP) has been with widespread use in clinical practice for several indications with plasma filters optimized for the respective elimination targets with excellent safety. By way of the plasma separator, the blood is separated into plasma and cell components. Separated plasma is then led into the plasma component separator where the pores of the plasma component separator further fractionate the plasma into large and small molecular components. The large molecular components, including pathogenic substances, is removed and discarded and the small molecular components, including proteins such as albumin and gamma-globulin, are returned to the patient and mixed with the cell components. After the initiation of pegylated interferon plus ribavirin (Peg-IFN+RBV) therapy, the rapid first phase relates to a significant reduction in virus production and the degradation of free virus particles, which is followed by a second much slower one reflecting the elimination and clearance of infected cells. In HCV patients, high baseline viral load at the initiation of therapy is considered to be a negative predictor for systemic vascular resistance (SVR) for HCV genotype 1 patients. Reduction of baseline viral load by means of therapeutic double filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP) may represent a plausible adjunct for improved antiviral therapy to reduce the virus load with the initiation of treatment in synergy with Peg-IFN and RBV combination therapy. Recently, several clinical studies in evaluating the therapeutic efficacy and safety of DFPP in conjunction with IFN-based therapy were conducted for treatment-naïve genoty