Daclatasvir, sofosbuvir with or without ribavirin for 24 weeks in hepatitis C genotype 3 cirrhosis: A real-life study

SASLT guidelines: Update in treatment of hepatitis C virus infection, 2024

ABSTRACT

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been a major global health concern, with a significant impact on public health. In recent years, there have been remarkable advancements in our understanding of HCV and the development of novel therapeutic agents. The Saudi Society for the Study of Liver Disease and Transplantation formed a working group to develop HCV practice guidelines in Saudi Arabia. The methodology used to create these guidelines involved a comprehensive review of available evidence, local data, and major international practice guidelines regarding HCV management. This updated guideline encompasses critical aspects of HCV care, including screening and diagnosis, assessing the severity of liver disease, and treatment strategies. The aim of this updated guideline is to assist healthcare providers in the management of HCV in Saudi Arabia. It summarizes the latest local studies on HCV epidemiology, significant changes in virus prevalence, and the importance of universal screening, particularly among high-risk populations. Moreover, it discusses the promising potential for HCV elimination as a public health threat by 2030, driven by effective treatment and comprehensive prevention strategies. This guideline also highlights evolving recommendations for advancing disease management, including the treatment of HCV patients with decompensated cirrhosis, treatment of those who have previously failed treatment with the newer medications, management in the context of liver transplantation and hepatocellular carcinoma, and treatment for special populations.

Clinical Practice Guidelines of the Russian Society for the Study of the Liver, the Russian Gastroenterological Association, the National Scientific Society of Infectious Disease Specialists for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C

Аim:diagnosis and treatment algorithms in the clinical recommendations intended for general practitioners, gastroenterologists, infectious disease specialists, hepatologists on the of chronic hepatitis C are presented.

Summary.Chronic viral hepatitis C is a socially significant infection, the incidence of which in the Russian Federation remains significantly high. Over the past 10 years, great progress has been made in the treatment of hepatitis C — direct acting antiviral drugs have appeared. The spectrum of their effectiveness allows to achieve a sustained virological response in more than 90 % of cases, even in groups that were not previously considered even as candidates for therapy or were difficult to treat — patients receiving renal replacement therapy, after liver transplantation (or other organs), at the stage of decompensated liver cirrhosis, HIV co-infected, etc. Interferons are excluded from the recommendations due to their low effectiveness and a wide range of adverse events. The indications for the treatment have been expanded, namely, the fact of confirmation of viral replication. The terms of dispensary observation of patients without cirrhosis of the liver have been reduced (up to 12 weeks after the end of therapy). Also, these recommendations present approaches to active screening of hepatitis in risk groups, preventive and rehabilitation measures after the end of treatment.

Conclusion.Great success has been achieved in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. In most cases, eradication of viral HCV infection is a real task even in patients at the stage of cirrhosis of the liver, with impaired renal function, HIV co-infection, after solid organs transplantation.

Precision Medicine: Determination of Ribavirin Urinary Metabolites in Relation to Drug Adverse Effects in HCV Patients

The most commonly used antiviral treatment against hepatitis C virus is a combination of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) and ribavirin (RBV), which leads to a shortened duration of therapy and a sustained virologic response until 98%. Nonetheless, several dose-related side effects of RBV could limit its applications. This study aims to measure the urinary concentration of RBV and its main metabolites in order to evaluate the drug metabolism ability of HCV patients and to evaluate the adverse effects, such as anemia, with respect to RBV metabolite levels. RBV and its proactive and inactive metabolites were identified and quantified in the urine of 17 HCV males with severe liver fibrosis using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR) at the fourth week (TW4) and at the twelfth week of treatment (EOT). Four prodrug urinary metabolites, including RBV, were identified and three of them were quantified. At both the TW4 and EOT stages, six HCV patients were found to maintain high concentrations of RBV, while another six patients maintained a high level of RBV proactive metabolites, likely due to nucleosidase activity. Furthermore, a negative correlation between the reduction in hemoglobin (Hb) and proactive forms was observed, according to RBV-triphosphate accumulation causing the hemolysis. These findings represent a proof of concept regarding tailoring the drug dose in relation to the specific metabolic ability of the individual, as expected by the precision medicine approach.

National Brazilian survey on the outcomes of hepatitis c retreatment in patients non-responders to direct antiviral agents

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Treatment of hepatitis C with direct antiviral agents (DAA) is associated with almost 95% of sustained virological response. However, some patients need retreatment. In Brazil, it should be done according to the Ministry of Health guidelines, frequently updated to include newly available drugs. This study aimed to conduct a national survey about the characteristics and outcomes of retreatment of hepatitis C in previously non-responders to DAAs.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Institutions from all over the country were invited to participate in a national registry for retreatment, including information about clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the patients, type and outcomes of retreatment regimens. Only patients previously treated with interferon-free regimens were included.

RESULTS

As previous treatments the distribution was: SOF/DCV (56%), SOF/SIM (22%), 3D (11%), SOF/LED (6%) and SOF/RBV (5%). For retreatment the most frequently used drugs were SOF/GP (46%), SOF/DCV (23%) and SOF/VEL (11%). From 159 patients retreated, 132/159 (83%) had complete information in the registry and among them only seven patients were non-responders (SVR of 94.6%). All retreatments were well tolerated, without any serious adverse events or interruptions.

CONCLUSION

The retreatment of patients previously non-responders to DAAs was associated with high rate of SVR in this sample of Brazilian patients. This finding allows us to conclude that the retreatment options available in the public health system in Brazil are effective and safe and are an important component of the strategy of elimination of hepatitis C in our country.

A Two-Year Outcome Evaluation of Government-Led Initiative to Upscale Hospital-based Hepatitis C Treatment Using a Standard Two-Drug Regimen in Malaysia

Background: Malaysia has been fully committed to the global endeavor to eliminate hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection by 2030. In early 2018, the Ministry of Health (MOH) embarked on a “one-size-fits-all strategy” by introducing generic versions of sofosbuvir and daclatasvir as the standard treatment for HCV infection in public hospitals nationwide. Objectives: To evaluate the outcomes of such an initiative in multiple aspects, including the number and characteristics of patients treated, the extent of evidence-based drug use, the treatment completion status, individual responses to treatment, common side effects of treatment, and its economic implications. Methods: The findings were generated from the data compiled by the MOH, capturing the information regarding the treatment provided to adult HCV-infected patients in 16 selected hospitals between April 2018 and March 2020, along with the drug costs incurred. Results: A total of 1,797 patients were treated, nearly four times more than the patients receiving interferon-based treatment across the country in the preceding two years. Approximately one-third of them had liver cirrhosis, and the main HCV genotypes were 3 (46.9%) and 1a (20.0%). Dosing, treatment duration and the addition of ribavirin to the treatment generally agreed with the recommendations of the MOH. More than 90% of the patients completed the treatment course, and a sustained virologic response (SVR) rate of 95.4% (95% CI: 94.2, 96.7%) was recorded in those with a known treatment outcome (n = 1,163). The SVR achievement did not vary across HCV genotypes and cirrhosis status, but those ≥ 50 years of age (adjusted OR: 2.13; 95% CI: 1.16, 3.92) were more likely to fail the treatment. Side effects were rare. Anemia and fatigue caused treatment discontinuation in only 0.3% of the patients. The total drug expenditure reached US$678,258.20, and the mean cost of a 12-week treatment course of sofosbuvir and daclatasvir (US$235.16) was lower than the cost expected by the MOH (US$300). Conclusions: The findings demonstrate a high degree of real-world effectiveness, safety, and affordability of the standard treatment, suggesting that such a government-led initiative was reasonable and timely and could be extended to include more public health institutions.

Comparison of three therapeutic regimens for genotype-3 hepatitis C virus infection in a large real-life multicentre cohort

BACKGROUND & AIMS

In the direct-acting antiviral era, treatment of genotype-3 HCV (HCV-GT3) is still challenging. Real-life comparisons between recommended regimens, sofosbuvir (SOF)+daclatasvir (DAC), SOF/velpatasvir (VEL), glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (GLE/PIB), are scarce. We aimed at filling this data gap.

METHODS

Sustained virological response 12 weeks after treatment completion (SVR12) was assessed for all HCV-GT3 patients consecutively treated within the Lombardia web-based Navigatore HCV-Network; differences in SVR12 across regimens were evaluated by logistic regression.

RESULTS

Of the 2082 subjects with HCV-GT3, 1544 were evaluable for comparisons between regimens: SOF + DAC (1023, 66.2%), SOF/VEL (369, 23.9%), GLE/PIB (152, 9.8%). Patients treated with former regimens were more frequently male, cirrhotic, HIV-positive, pretreated, used ribavirin in their regimen, and had lower baseline HCV-RNA. SVR12 was similar across groups: 94.8% in SOF + DAC, 97.6% in SOF/VEL, 96.7% in GLE/PIB (P = .065). At univariate analysis, SVR12 was associated with female gender (97.9% vs 94.8%, P = .007) and lower median pretreatment Log₁₀ HCV-RNA (5.87 vs 6.20, P = .001). At multivariate logistic regression analysis, treatment with SOF/VEL was associated with a higher likelihood of SVR12 than SOF + DAC, but only in the absence of ribavirin (98% vs 90.3%). Female gender and lower pretreatment HCV-RNA were independently associated with SVR12.

CONCLUSIONS

In a large real-life setting of HCV-GT3-infected patients with a high proportion of cirrhosis, the success rate was remarkable. The slight advantage of SOF/VEL on SOF + DAC was significant only without ribavirin. The current prescription shift towards novel regimens (ie SOF/VEL and GLE/PIB) in easier-to-treat patients allows ribavirin-free and shorter schedules without mining SVR12 in this <<difficult-to-treat>> genotype.

Viral hepatitis C treatment shortening - what is the limit?

Successful antiviral treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is crucial to prevent progression of the disease and its most serious complications. Therapy options have changed over the years with improvement of treatment efficacy, safety and simplification. They evolved from interferon and ribavirin combination administered for 24-72 weeks through interferon (IFN)-based triple therapies with 24-48 weeks duration to the all-oral, well-tolerated direct-acting antiviral regimens lasting for 8-16 weeks and with almost 100% cure rates. The benefits of shorter treatment duration are cost reduction, access to therapy for more patients, and lower risk of adverse events and nonadherence. This review summarizes data on treatment options, focusing on the recommended durations of different regimens depending on HCV genotype, severity of liver disease and history of previous therapy. According to currently available data, shortening treatment below 8 weeks does not provide additional benefits, although the further simplification of therapy is still a subject of study.