Hepatocellular carcinoma in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis without cirrhosis

Cirrhosis is an emerging major cause of the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), up to 50% of patients with HCC had no clinical or histological evidence of cirrhosis. It is currently challenging to propose general recommendations for screening patients with NAFLD without cirrhosis, and each patient should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis based on the profile of specific risk factors identified. For HCC screening in NAFLD, a valid precision-based screening is needed. Currently, when evaluating this population of patients, the use of non-invasive methods can guide the selection of those who should undergo a screening and surveillance program. Hence, the objective of the present study is to review the epidemiology, the pathophysiology, the histopathological aspects, the current recommendations, and novel perspectives in the surveillance of non-cirrhotic NAFLD-related HCC.

Drug-induced liver injury and COVID-19: A review for clinical practice

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) consists of a systemic disease that can present many complications. The infection presents broad clinical symptoms and a high rate of transmissibility. In addition to severe acute respiratory syndrome, the patients manifest complications beyond the respiratory system. The frequency of liver damage in COVID-19 patients ranges from 14.8% to 53% of patients. One should pay attention to drug-induced liver injury (DILI) in patients with COVID-19, especially considering the off-label use of drugs in prophylactic and therapeutic regimens applied on large scales. This review aims to present relevant information on the medication used so far in COVID-19 patients and its possible hepatotoxicity. We reviewed liver damage in patients with COVID-19 on PubMed and Virtual Health Library to investigate DILI cases. Four studies were selected, involving the medicines remdesivir, tocilizumab and a pharmacovigilance analysis study. The hepatotoxicity profile of drugs presented in the literature considers use in accordance to usual posology standards for treatment. However, drugs currently used in the management of COVID-19 follow different dosages and posology than those tested by the pharmaceutical industry. The deficiency of uniformity and standardization in the assessment of hepatotoxicity cases hinders the publication of information and the possibility of comparing information among healthcare professionals. It is suggested that severe liver injury in COVID-19 patients should be reported in pharmacovigilance institutions, and physicians should pay attention to any considerable abnormal liver test elevation as it can demonstrate unknown drug hepatotoxicity. Liver disorders in COVID-19 patients and the use of several concomitant off-label medications — with a potential risk of further damaging the liver - should at least be a warning sign for rapid identification and early intervention, thus preventing liver damage from contributing to severe impairment in patients.

Role of zinc supplementation in the management of chronic liver diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

Zinc deficiency has been associated with poor prognosis in chronic liver disease. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the role of zinc supplementation in the management of chronic liver diseases.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We searched MEDLINE, LILACS, EMBASE, and Cochrane CENTRAL databases from inception to August 2018. We included randomized controlled trials evaluating adult patients with chronic liver disease of any etiology receiving zinc supplementation. Studies with other designs or evaluating chronic conditions other than liver disease were excluded. Two reviewers independently screened and extracted data from eligible studies. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias in randomized studies.

RESULTS

Of 1315 studies screened, 13 were included. Six assessed chronic hepatitis C treatment, with a relative risk of 0.83 indicating no protective effect of zinc supplementation on the improvement of sustained virological response. Three evaluated response to hepatic encephalopathy treatment, with a relative risk of 0.66 indicating a favorable effect of zinc supplementation on clinical improvement of this condition. Of four studies evaluating the management of cirrhosis, two analyzed the effect of zinc supplementation on serum albumin levels, with no statistical difference between zinc and placebo groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical trials assessing zinc supplementation in liver diseases do not show benefits in terms of clinical improvement or disease halting. There are possible benefits of zinc supplementation on hepatic encephalopathy, however, this is based on limited evidence. This research question is still open for evaluation in larger, well-designed, clinical trials.

Evaluation of thrombocytopenia in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease without cirrhosis

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disorder in western countries. It is often related to metabolic syndrome, presenting an increased risk of advanced liver disease and cardiovascular-related death. In some etiologies of chronic liver disease, thrombocytopenia has been associated not only with advanced stages of fibrosis but also with autoimmune disease. In NAFLD, however, its prevalence and related factors are still unknown. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of thrombocytopenia in NAFLD patients without cirrhosis and to investigate its related risk factors.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This was a retrospective study carried out in two tertiary hospitals in the South and Southeast regions of Brazil. Patients diagnosed with NAFLD by liver biopsy were included. Those with other causes of liver disease and/or cirrhosis were excluded. For analysis, patients were divided into two groups, with and without thrombocytopenia. Data was analyzed using a significance level of 5%.

RESULTS

441 non-cirrhotic patients with NAFLD (evaluated by liver biopsy) were included in the study. The prevalence of thrombocytopenia was 3.2% (14/441 patients). In the comparative analysis between groups, thrombocytopenia was associated with male sex (p=0.007) and level of hemoglobin (p=0.023).

CONCLUSION

Thrombocytopenia is an infrequent event in NAFLD patients without cirrhosis and is related with male sex and higher hemoglobin levels.

Transient hepatic elastography has the best performance to evaluate liver fibrosis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

INTRODUCTION AND AIM

The gold-standard for fibrosis diagnosis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is liver biopsy, despite its invasive approach, sampling limitations and variability among observers. The objective was to validate the performance of non-invasive methods (Fibroscan™; APRI, FIB4 and NAFLD score) comparing with liver biopsy in the evaluation of liver fibrosis in patients with NAFLD.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

NAFLD patients ≥18 years of age who were submitted to liver biopsy were included and evaluated at two reference tertiary hospitals in Brazil with transient hepatic elastography (THE) assessment through Fibroscan™, APRI, FIB4 and NAFLD scores were determined. Sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV) and negative (NPV) predictive values for the diagnosis of advanced fibrosis were calculated to evaluate the performance of these non-invasive methods in NAFLD patients, adopting liver biopsy as the gold standard.

RESULTS

A total of 104 patients were studied. At three different cutoff values (7.9, 8.7 and 9.6kPa) THE presented the highest sensitivity values (95%, 90% and 85% respectively), and the highest NPV (98%, 96.4% and 95.1% respectively) for the diagnosis of advanced fibrosis. It also presented the highest AUROC (0.87; CI 95% 0.78-0.97).

CONCLUSION

When compared to the gold standard, transient hepatic elastography presented the best performance for the diagnosis and exclusion of advanced fibrosis in patients with NAFLD, overcoming APRI, FIB4 and NAFLD score.

Performance of noninvasive scores for the diagnosis of advanced liver fibrosis in morbidly obese with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

OBJECTIVES

Liver fibrosis is one of the most important predictors of mortality related to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The use of noninvasive markers has the advantage of a simple and low-cost evaluation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of six noninvasive scores for the diagnosis of advanced liver fibrosis in morbidly obese patients.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A retrospective study validation included 323 morbidly obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery. Advance fibrosis was defined as stage 3 and 4 (septal fibrosis or cirrhosis). Accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV) or negative (NPV) predictive value, and positive (PLR) or negative (NLR) likelihood ratio test of the following noninvasive liver fibrosis scores were evaluated: aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio (AAR); AST to platelet ratio index (APRI); BARD; FIB4, NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS) and BAAT, which were compared with the histological findings of the intraoperative liver biopsy. The cutoff points established in the validation studies were used: AAR  >  1; APRL  >  0.98; BARD  ≥  2; FIB4  >  2.67; NFS  >  0.676 and BAAT  >  1.

RESULTS

Twenty-nine patients (8.97%) presented advanced fibrosis. APRI presented the higher specificity (99.61%), PPV (85.71%), PLR (62.5) and accuracy (0.93). FIB4 was the second test in accuracy (0.9) and in PLR (10.53). BAAT presented the highest sensitivity (73.08%) and NPV (94.78%); NFS the lowest sensitivity (12,5%), and BARD the lowest accuracy (0.44).

CONCLUSION

APRI and FIB-4 were the tests with best performance to predict advanced fibrosis.

Muscle depletion in cirrhotic patients assessed using computed tomography: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Sarcopenia is a common complication in patients with cirrhosis and may lead to increased morbidity and mortality.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the prevalence of sarcopenia and its association with disease severity scores, among patients with cirrhosis.

DESIGN AND SETTING

Observational and retrospective cohort study carried out in a tertiary-care hospital in southern Brazil.

METHODS

This study was conducted among patients with chronic liver disease who were followed up at the gastroenterology and hepatology outpatient clinic of a tertiary-care hospital in southern Brazil and who underwent computed tomography scans of the abdomen through any indication.

RESULTS

We included 83 patients in the study. In the population evaluated, there was a predominance of males (57.80%) and the mean age was 56 years. Hepatitis B or C virus was present in the genesis of the disease in 34.9% of the cases, followed by an etiology of alcohol abuse (30.1%). Sarcopenia was diagnosed in 41 (49.4%) of the patients when the cutoff point for cirrhotic patients was used. There was no significant correlation between the Child-Pugh and MELD severity scores and the occurrence of sarcopenia.

CONCLUSION

Sarcopenia presents high prevalence among patients with chronic liver disease, without any association with predictors of severity.

Effectiveness of chronic hepatitis C treatment with direct-acting antivirals in the Public Health System in Brazil

Introduction

Chronic hepatitis C virus infection is one of the major causes of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma and liver transplantation. Treatment using direct-acting antivirals has revolutionized the treatment of hepatitis C virus, increasing long-term prognosis after cure. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of direct-acting antivirals in a Public Health System in southern Brazil.

Methods

A retrospective study evaluated all patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection who underwent treatment at one center of the Public Health Department of the State of Rio Grande do Sul – Brazil, according to the Brazilian Clinical Protocol and Therapeutic Guidelines. The effectiveness was assessed in terms sustained virological response 12 weeks after the end of treatment.

Results

A total of 1002 patients who were treated for chronic hepatitis C virus infection were evaluated. The mean age was 58.6 years, 557 patients (55.6%) were male and 550 (54.9%) were cirrhotic. Overall sustained virological response was observed in 936 (93.4%) patients. There was a difference in sustained virological response rate varied according to sex, 91.6% in men and 95.7% in women (p = 0.009), length of treatment in genotype 1, 92.7% with 12 weeks and 99.1 with 24 weeks (p = 0.040), and genotype, 94.7% in genotype 1, 91.7% in genotype 2, and 91.4% in genotype 3 (p = 0.047).

Conclusion

The treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection for genotypes 1, 2 or 3 with the therapeutic regimens established by the Brazilian guidelines showed high rates of SVR, even in cirrhotic patients.

Incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic liver disease due to hepatitis B or C and coinfected with the human immunodeficiency virus: A retrospective cohort study

AIM

To assess the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in chronic liver disease due to hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study was performed, including patients with chronic liver disease due to HBV or HCV, with and without HIV coinfection. Patients were selected in the largest tertiary public hospital complex in southern Brazil between January 2007 and June 2014. We assessed demographic and clinical data, including lifestyle habits such as illicit drug use or alcohol abuse, in addition to frequency and reasons for hospital admissions via medical records review.

RESULTS

Of 804 patients were included (399 with HIV coinfection and 405 monoinfected with HBV or HCV). Coinfected patients were younger (36.7 ± 10 vs 46.3 ± 12.5, P < 0.001). Liver cirrhosis was observed in 31.3% of HIV-negative patients and in 16.5% of coinfected (P < 0.001). HCC was diagnosed in 36 patients (10 HIV coinfected and 26 monoinfected). The incidence density of HCC in coinfected and monoinfected patients was 0.25 and 0.72 cases per 100 patient-years (95%CI: 0.12-0.46 vs 0.47-1.05) (long-rank P = 0.002), respectively. The ratio for the HCC incidence rate was 2.98 for HIV-negative. However, when adjusting for age or when only cirrhotic are analyzed, the absence of HIV lost statistical significance for the development of HCC.

CONCLUSION

In this study, the presence of HIV coinfection in chronic liver disease due to HBV or HCV showed no relation to the increase of HCC incidence.

Sarcopenia and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Is there a relationship? A systematic review

AIM

To perform a systematic review to evaluate the incidence and prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in adult patients with sarcopenia.

METHODS

Randomized clinical trials, cross-sectional or cohort studies including adult patients (over 18 years) with sarcopenia were selected. The primary outcomes of interest were the prevalence or incidence of NAFLD in sarcopenic patients. In the screening process, 44 full-text articles were included in the review and 41 studies were excluded.

RESULTS

Three cross-sectional studies were included. The authors attempted to perform a systematic review, but due to the differences between the studies, a qualitative synthesis was provided. The diagnosis of NAFLD was made by non-invasive methods (image methods or any surrogate markers) in all three evaluated studies. All the studies suggested that there was an independent association between sarcopenia and NAFLD.

CONCLUSION

Sarcopenia is independently associated with NAFLD and possibly to an advanced fibrosis.

Polymorphisms and resistance mutations of hepatitis C virus on sequences in the European hepatitis C virus database

AIM

To evaluate the occurrence of resistant mutations in treatment-naïve hepatitis C virus (HCV) sequences deposited in the European hepatitis C virus database (euHCVdb).

METHODS

The sequences were downloaded from the euHCVdb (https://euhcvdb.ibcp.fr/euHCVdb/). The search was performed for full-length NS3 protease, NS5A and NS5B polymerase sequences of HCV, separated by genotypes 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b and 3a, and resulted in 798 NS3, 708 NS5A and 535 NS5B sequences from HCV genotypes 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b and 3a, after the exclusion of sequences containing errors and/or gaps or incomplete sequences, and sequences from patients previously treated with direct antiviral agents (DAA). The sequence alignment was performed with MEGA 6.06 MAC and the resulting protein sequences were then analyzed using the BioEdit 7.2.5. for mutations associated with resistance. Only positions that have been described as being associated with failure in treatment in in vivo studies, and/or as conferring a more than 2-fold change in replication in comparison to the wildtype reference strain in in vitro phenotypic assays were included in the analysis.

RESULTS

The Q80K variant in the NS3 gene was the most prevalent mutation, being found in 44.66% of subtype 1a and 0.25% of subtype 1b. Other frequent mutations observed in more than 2% of the NS3 sequences were: I170V (3.21%) in genotype 1a, and Y56F (15.93%), V132I (23.28%) and I170V (65.20%) in genotype 1b. For the NS5A, 2.21% of the genotype 1a sequences have the P58S mutation, 5.95% of genotype 1b sequences have the R30Q mutation, 15.79% of subtypes 2a sequences have the Q30R mutation, 23.08% of subtype 2b sequences have a L31M mutation, and in subtype 3a sequences, 23.08% have the M31L resistant variants. For the NS5B, the V321L RAV was identified in 0.60% of genotype 1a and in 0.32% of genotype 1b sequences, and the N142T variant was observed in 0.32% of subtype 1b sequences. The C316Y, S556G, D559N RAV were identified in 0.33%, 7.82% and 0.32% of genotype 1b sequences, respectively, and were not observed in other genotypes.

CONCLUSION

HCV mutants resistant to DAAs are found in low frequency, nevertheless they could be selected and therapy could fail due resistance substitutions in HCV genome.

Nutritional evaluation in cirrhosis: Emphasis on the phase angle

Protein-calorie malnutrition (PCM) is a common condition in cirrhotic patients, leading to a worse prognosis, complications, poor quality of life and lower survival rates. Among ways of assessing nutritional status, there are anthropometric methods such as the evaluation of the triceps skinfold, the arm circumference, the arm muscle circumference and the body mass index, and non-anthropometric methods such as the subjective global assessment, the handgrip strength of non-dominant hand, and the bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). PCM is frequently under-diagnosed in clinical settings in patients with cirrhosis due to the limitations of nutritional evaluation methods in this population. BIA is a useful method, but cannot be indicated in patients with abnormal body composition. In these situations, the phase angle (PA) has been used, and can become an important tool in assessing nutritional status in any situation. The PA is superior to anthropometric methods and might be considered as a nutritional indicator in cirrhosis. The early characterization of the nutritional status in patients with cirrhosis means an early nutritional intervention, with a positive impact on patients’ overall prognosis. Among the usually accepted methods for nutritional diagnosis, the PA provides information in a quick and objective manner.

Biochemical non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis cannot replace biopsy in HIV-HCV coinfected patients

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

The liver biopsy has been considered the gold standard for the diagnosis and quantification of fibrosis. However, this method presents limitations. In addition, the non-invasive evaluation of liver fibrosis is a challenge. The aim of this study was to validate the fibrosis cirrhosis index (FCI) index in a cohort of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfected patients, and compare to AST/ALT ratio (AAR), AST to platelet ratio index (APRI) and FIB-4 scores, as a tool for the assessment of liver fibrosis in coinfected patients.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Retrospective cross sectional study including 92 HIV-HCV coinfected patients evaluated in two reference centers for HIV treatment in the Public Health System in Southern Brazil. Patients who underwent liver biopsy for any indication and had concomitant laboratory data in the 3 months prior to liver biopsy, to allow the calculation of studied noninvasive markers (AAR, APRI, FIB-4 and FCI) were included.

RESULTS

APRI < 0.5 presents the higher specificity to detect no or minimal fibrosis, whereas APRI > 1.5 presents the best negative predictive value and FCI > 1.25 the best specificity to detect significant fibrosis. The values of noninvasive markers for each Metavir fibrosis stage showed statistically significant differences only for APRI. In conclusion, until better noninvasive markers for liver fibrosis are developed and validated for HIV-HCV coinfected patients, noninvasive serum markers should be used carefully in this population.

IMPACT OF THE PEGYLATED-INTERFERON AND RIBAVIRIN THERAPY ON THE TREATMENT-RELATED MORTALITY OF PATIENTS WITH CIRRHOSIS DUE TO HEPATITIS C VIRUS

Although the protease inhibitors have revolutionized the therapy of chronic hepatitis C (CHC), the concomitant use of pegylated-interferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) is associated to a high rate of adverse effects. In this study, we evaluated the consequences of PEG-IFN and RBV and their relationship with mortality in patients with cirrhosis.

METHODS

Medical records of CHC who underwent treatment with PEG-IFN and RBV in a public hospital in Brazil were evaluated. All the patients with cirrhosis were selected, and their clinical and laboratory characteristics, response to treatment, side effects and mortality were evaluated.

RESULTS

From the 1,059 patients with CHC, 257 cirrhotic patients were evaluated. Of these, 45 (17.5%) achieved sustained viral response (SVR). Early discontinuation of therapy occurred in 105 (40.8%) patients, of which 39 (15.2%) were due to serious adverse effects. The mortality rate among the 257 cirrhotic patients was 4.3%, occurring in 06/242 (2.4%) of the Child-A, and in 05/15 (33.3%) of the Child-B patients. In conclusion, the treatment of patients with cirrhosis due to HCV with PEG-IFN and RBV shows a low SVR rate and a high mortality, especially in patients with liver dysfunction.

Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH): Risk Factors in Morbidly Obese Patients

The aim was to investigate the prevalence of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and risk factors for hepatic fibrosis in morbidly obese patients submitted to bariatric surgery. This retrospective study recruited all patients submitted to bariatric surgery from January 2007 to December 2012 at a reference attendance center of Southern Brazil. Clinical and biochemical data were studied as a function of the histological findings of liver biopsies done during the surgery. Steatosis was present in 226 (90.4%) and NASH in 176 (70.4%) cases. The diagnosis of cirrhosis was established in four cases (1.6%) and fibrosis in 108 (43.2%). Risk factors associated with NASH at multivariate analysis were alanine aminotransferase (ALT) >1.5 times the upper limit of normal (ULN); glucose ≥ 126 mg/dL and triglycerides ≥ 150 mg/dL. All patients with ALT ≥1.5 times the ULN had NASH. When the presence of fibrosis was analyzed, ALT > 1.5 times the ULN and triglycerides ≥ 150 mg/dL were risk factors, furthermore, there was an increase of 1% in the prevalence of fibrosis for each year of age increase. Not only steatosis, but NASH is a frequent finding in MO patients. In the present study, ALT ≥ 1.5 times the ULN identifies all patients with NASH, this finding needs to be further validated in other studies. Moreover, the presence of fibrosis was associated with ALT, triglycerides and age, identifying a subset of patients with more severe disease.

Noninvasive imaging assessment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Focus on liver scintigraphy

Noninvasive diagnoses of nonalcoholic fatty-liver disease (NAFLD) involve the use of serologic markers and imaging methods, such as conventional ultrasonography (US), computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. Although these methods are reliable for the noninvasive detection of moderate to severe fatty changes in the liver, they are not reliable for detecting nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and fibrosis. New imaging technologies, such as US-based transient elastography, acoustic radiation force impulse and magnetic resonance-based elastography, can reportedly be used to determine the severity of liver fibrosis associated with NASH. In this context, the field of nuclear medicine through liver scintigraphy has recently been proposed, and is being explored for use in the diagnosis of NASH. More importantly, nuclear medicine may contribute to the distinction between simple steatosis and NASH. For example, the enhanced release of cytokines and the decrease in the phagocytic activity of Kupffer cells play important roles in the pathogenesis of NASH. Removal of technetium-99m colloid from circulation by Kupffer cell phagocytosis therefore provides a valuable imaging technique. Thus, nuclear medicine is poised to provide useful tools for the evaluation of patients with NAFLD. However, the evidence is still scarce, and more studies with larger samples are needed to identify their role before they are used in clinical practice.

Multi-resistant bacteria in spontaneous bacterial peritonitis: A new step in management?

Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is the most typical infection observed in cirrhosis patients. SBP is responsible for an in-hospital mortality rate of approximately 32%. Recently, pattern changes in the bacterial flora of cirrhosis patients have been observed, and an increase in the prevalence of infections caused by multi-resistant bacteria has been noted. The wide-scale use of quinolones in the prophylaxis of SBP has promoted flora modifications and resulted in the development of bacterial resistance. The efficacy of traditionally recommended therapy has been low in nosocomial infections (up to 40%), and multi-resistance has been observed in up to 22% of isolated germs in nosocomial SBP. For this reason, the use of a broad empirical spectrum antibiotic has been suggested in these situations. The distinction between community-acquired infectious episodes, healthcare-associated infections, or nosocomial infections, and the identification of risk factors for multi-resistant germs can aid in the decision-making process regarding the empirical choice of antibiotic therapy. Broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents, such as carbapenems with or without glycopeptides or piperacillin-tazobactam, should be considered for the initial treatment not only of nosocomial infections but also of healthcare-associated infections when the risk factors or severity signs for multi-resistant bacteria are apparent. The use of cephalosporins should be restricted to community-acquired infections.

Chronic hepatitis C genotype 1 virus: Who should wait for treatment?

Elucidation of the natural history of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and the identification of risk factors for its progression to advanced liver disease have allowed many physicians to recommend deferral treatment (triple therapy) in favour of waiting for new drug availability for patients who are at low risk of progression to significant liver disease. Newer generation drugs are currently under development, and are expected to feature improved efficacy and safety profiles, as well as less complex and shorter duration delivery regimens, compared to the current standards of care. In addition, patients with cirrhosis and prior null responders have a low rate (around 15%) of achieving sustained virological response (SVR) with triple therapy, and physicians must also consider the decision to wait for new treatments in the future for these patients as well. Naïve patients are the most likely to achieve a close to 100% SVR rate; therefore, it may be advisable to recommend that patients with mild to moderate CHC should wait for the newer therapy options. In contrast, patients with advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis will be those with the greatest need for expedited therapeutic intervention. There remains a need, however, for establishing definitive clinical management guidelines to maximize the benefit of waiting for new drugs and minimize risk of side effects and non-response to the current triple therapy.

Progression of liver fibrosis in monoinfected patients by hepatitis C virus and coinfected by HCV and human immunodeficiency virus

CONTEXT

The progression of liver fibrosis in patients coinfected by hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus (HCV/HIV) has been increasingly studied in the past decade. Studies made before the highly active antiretroviral therapy suggest that HIV can change the natural history of the HCV infection, leading to a faster progression of the liver fibrosis.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate and compare the fibrosis progression in two groups of patients (HCV/HIV coinfected and HCV monoinfected)

METHODS

Seventy patients HCV monoinfected and 26 patients HCV/HIV coinfected who had not undertaken HCV treatment and were submitted to serial percutaneous liver biopsies were retrospectively evaluated. There was no difference in the fibrosis progression between the two groups.

CONCLUSION

The fibrosis grade evolution was not worse in the coinfected patients. The immunosuppression absence and the shortest time period between the biopsies in the coinfected group are possible explanations.

[Evaluation of the cellular immunity in patients coinfected by the hepatitis C virus and the human immunodeficiency virus]

BACKGROUND

The immune activation provoked by the hepatitis C virus can be deleterious in patients with human immunodeficiency virus, favouring the destruction of CD4 cells. By the other side, the immune restoration observed after the onset of antiretroviral therapy can be partially obscured in patients with the hepatitis C virus.

AIM

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of coinfection by hepatitis C virus and the human immunodeficiency virus in the cellular immunity.

METHODS

Two groups of patients were considered: coinfected patients were prospectively evaluated in the gastroenterology clinic at "Hospital Nossa Senhora da Conceição", Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil (group 1 - 385 patients), and monoinfected patients by human immunodeficiency virus based on the review of the charts from the infectious diseases clinic (group 2 - 198 patients). Demographic (gender, race, age) CD4 and CD8 cell count, CD4/CD8 index and human immunodeficiency virus viral load were evaluated. A 5% significance level was adopted.

RESULTS

There were no difference between the parameters evaluated: mean CD4 count (374,7 +/- 215,7 x 357,5 +/- 266,0), CD8 (1.512,4 +/- 7.274,6 x 986,7 +/- 436,4) and HIV viral load (83.744,2 +/- 190.292,0 x 104.464,0 +/- 486.880,5) respectively in both groups evaluated, as well as the proportion of patients with CD4/CD8 rate below 1.

CONCLUSION

Coinfection by both viruses did not have a negative impact in relation to monoinfection by human immunodeficiency virus, and the immune profile was similar in all groups.

Impact of human immunodeficiency virus infection in patients infected with the hepatitis C virus

BACKGROUND/AIMS

The objective of the present study is to evaluate the impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

METHODS

Three different groups of patients were considered: group 1, 385 HCV/HIV coinfected; group 2, 198 HIV monoinfected; and group 3, 311 HCV monoinfected. Demographic and epidemiological data were collected. Blood tests included anti-HCV, HCV-RNA test, genotyping, CD4 cell count, anti-HIV, and HIV viral load. Treatment with interferon and ribavirin was proposed. The fibrosis progression rate was assessed.

RESULTS

The most prevalent risk factor in the group of coinfected was the use of intravenous drugs; in the HIV monoinfection group, heterosexual relations at risk; in the HCV monoinfection group, the transfusion of blood. There was no difference concerning the distribution of genotypes or HCV viral load between groups 1 and 3. Although the mean time of duration of HCV infection was greater in group 3 than in group 1, there was no difference when the fibrosis progression rate was evaluated. The response to treatment was similar.

CONCLUSION

In the present series there was no relevant impact of HCV infection in patients with HIV.