Table 1.

Summary of the most important studies on the effect of iron depletion by phlebotomy on chronic hepatitis C virus infection

Author [ref]	Number of patients	Characteristics	Results
Hayashi et al. [40]	40	40 naïve	Phlebotomy significantly reduced mean ALT levels
Sartori et al. [42]	24	12 IFN NR, 12 naïve	Reduction of ALT levels and inflammatory grading score, suppression of the progression of staging score for fibrosis
Yano et al. [43]	33	NI	Phlebotomy significantly reduced ALT
Tanaka et al. [44]	22	NI	Phlebotomy significantly reduced ALT, AST, and α-fetoprotein levels
Yano et al. [47]	25	22 IFN NR, 3 naïve	Reduction of ALT levels, improvement of liver inflammation, and suppression of the progression of liver fibrosis
Alexander et al. [48]	18	18 NR	Biochemical response was accompanied by a reduction of markers of fibrogenesis

Abbreviations: IFN, interferon; NR, nonresponders; NI, not indicated; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase