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Central effects of Interferon-Alpha Therapy in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C: A Study using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Study Details
Many patients who take interferon (IFN)-alpha complain of decreased memory and concentration. In addition to changes in memory and concentration, many patients who receive IFN-alpha also develop symptoms of depression. The pattern of cognitive changes that develop in patients treated with IFN-alpha is suggestive of dysfunction in brain regions that interconnect the frontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex and the basal ganglia. However, this hypothesis is only supported by clinical data relying on psychometric and neuropsychological assessments and needs further testing by functional brain imaging. Thus, the purpose of this study is to look at how brain activity, specifically brain circuitry involving the frontal and anterior cingulate cortices and basal ganglia, is changed during IFN-alpha treatment using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Subjects will be asked to come in for one or more screening visits, followed by a single visit to obtain the fMRI brain scan. Subjects are in the scanner for approximately one hour and will perform mental tasks during the scan.
Subjects with hepatitis C who are on or are about to start IFN-alpha therapy are eligible for this study. We are also studying patients who have hepatitis C who are not undergoing IFN-alpha treatment as control subjects. Relevant publications are indicated below. If you are interested in participating in this study, please call (404) 727-8229 or click here for more information.
Capuron, L., Pagnoni, G., Demetrashvili, M., Woolwine, B.J., Nemeroff, C.B., Berns, G.S., Miller, A.H. Anterior cingulate activation and error processing during interferon-alpha treatment. Biological Psychiatry, 58:190-6, 2005.
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