Twenty-nine patients (63.0%) began peginterferon alfa-2a (40 KD; Pegasys, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel, Switzerland) 135-180 mcg per week subcutaneously and ribavirin (Copegus, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, 800-1200 mg per day orally) therapy for 48 weeks based on their initial histological scores (patients were treated if they had elevated ALT of more than 2 times the upper limit of normal and had grade 2 or more inflammation and stage 2 or more fibrosis on liver biopsy. This evidence concerns the gene GPT and fibrosis.