Table 1.

Summary of demographic and clinical characteristics at baseline

	Group1	Group 2
Patients (n)	51	51
Sex (M/F)	29/22	36/17
Mean age (yr) ± SD	45±11.7	43.9±9.0
Hemoglobin (g/dL)	14.8±1.3	15±1.3
Platelets (×109/L)	195.9±45	203.9±54
Leukocytes (×109/L)	6.7±1.4	6.8±1.9
ALT (mean±SD)	142.7±86.2	123.2±78.7
HCV-RNA quantitation (Meq/mL)
Low viremia	27	23
High viremia	21	24
Undetermined	3	4
Genotype
1	31	33
2	6	8
3	12	8
4	2	1
Undetermined	0	1