The Supplementation of Acetyl-L-Carnitine Decreases Fatigue and Increases Quality of Life in Patients with Hepatitis C Treated with Pegylated Interferon- alpha 2b Plus Ribavirin

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether supplementation of acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) to pegylated-inter-feron- alpha 2b (Peg-IFN- alpha 2b) and ribavirin (RBV) improves the health-related quality of life during the treatment for chronic hepatitis C, thereby decreasing the risk of treatment discontinuation. Sixty patients with chronic hepatitis C underwent treatment with Peg-IFN- alpha 2b + RBV (group A; n = 29) or Peg-IFN- alpha 2b + RBV + ALC (group B; n=31) for 12 months. At the end of the study, the comparison between group A and group B showed significant differences in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (-80.9 versus -110.3; P