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# Hepatitis C virus antiviral therapy can cause paranoid psychosis, cognitive impairment
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/hepatitis_c_virus_antiviral_therapy_0724140730/
- Published: 2014-07-24T20:29:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:24:32.000Z
- Description: A case report describes a 55-year-old man who developed paranoid psychosis and cognitive impairment after four months of interferon-based hepatitis C therapy. The psychosis lifted once he stopped treatment and took risperidone, but the cognitive impairment did not reverse.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Drug, Health News, #vivvo-import

Thursday July 24, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- A case report suggests that taking hepatitis C virus antiviral therapy may increase risk of paranoid psychosis and cognitive impairment.

According to the report, a 55-year-old male was diagnosed with paranoid psychosis and cognitive impairment after four months of interferon-based hepatitis C virus antiviral therapy.

Paranoid psychosis disappeared after he discontinued the hepatitis C virus antiviral therapy and started taking risperidone, an antipsychotic drug that is mainly used to treat schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, and irritability in people with autism. However, cognitive impairment could not be reversed.

His paranoid psychosis re-emerged months later when attempting to use low doses of risperidone.

Brain MRI reveals that the patient had bilateral asymmetric subcortical and deep white matter changes, which may be why the patient is susceptible to the influence of hepatitis C virus antiviral therapy, the authors explain.

The report concludes that "This case emphasizes the importance of neuropsychiatric screening and monitoring of patients being treated with interferon-based therapy for HCV (hepatitis C virus), particularly if there is evidence of previous neurologic disease." (David Liu)

Reference

Adrian Budhram, B.H.Sc.email address, Clara Cebrian, M.D., Paranoid psychosis and cognitive impairment associated with hepatitis C antiviral therapy, General Hospital Psychiatry, Volume 36, Issue 1 , Pages 126.e3-126.e5, January 2014