Co-existing Hepatitis C and Alcoholic Liver Disease: A Diminishing Indication for Liver Transplantation?

Integrating Management of Hepatitis C Infection into Primary Care: the Key to Hepatitis C Elimination Efforts

Elimination of hepatitis C virus (HCV), a leading cause of liver disease in the USA and globally, has been made possible with the advent of highly efficacious direct acting antivirals (DAAs). DAA regimens offer cure of HCV with 8-12 weeks of a well-tolerated once daily therapy. With increasingly straightforward diagnostic and treatment algorithms, HCV infection can be managed not only by specialists, but also by primary care providers. Engaging primary care providers greatly increases capacity to diagnose and treat chronic HCV and ultimately make HCV elimination a reality. However, barriers remain at each step in the HCV cascade of care from screening to evaluation and treatment. Since primary care is at the forefront of patient contact, it represents the ideal place to concentrate efforts to identify barriers and implement solutions to achieve universal HCV screening and increase curative treatment.

Natural History of Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease: Understanding the Changing Landscape of Pathophysiology and Patient Care

Alcohol use and consequent liver disease are major burdens that have worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are several facets to the pathophysiology and clinical consequences of alcohol-use disorder (AUD) and progression to alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) that require a concerted effort by clinicians and translational and basic science investigators. Several recent advances from bedside to bench and bench to bedside have been made in ALD. We focused this review on a case-based approach that provides a human context to these important advances across the spectrum of ALD.

Alcohol-associated liver disease: A review on its pathophysiology, diagnosis and drug therapy

One of the global burdens of health care is an alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) and liver-related death which is caused due to acute or chronic consumption of alcohol. Chronic consumption of alcohol damage the normal defense mechanism of the liver and likely to disturb the gut barrier system, mucosal immune cells, which leads to decreased nutrient absorption. Therapy of ALD depends upon the spectrum of liver injury that causes fatty liver, hepatitis, and cirrhosis. The foundation of therapy starts with abstinence from alcohol. Corticosteroids are used for the treatment of ALD but due to poor acceptance, continuing mortality, and identification of tumor necrosis factor-alpha as an integral component in pathogenesis, recent studies focus on pentoxifylline and, antitumor necrosis factor antibody to neutralize cytokines in the therapy of severe alcoholic hepatitis. Antioxidants also play a significant role in the treatment but till today there is no universally accepted therapy available for any stage of ALD. The treatment aspects need to restore the gut functions and require nutrient-based treatments to regulate the functions of the gut system and prevent liver injury. The vital action of saturated fatty acids greatly controls the gut barrier. Overall, this review mainly focuses on the mechanism of alcohol-induced metabolic dysfunction, contribution to liver pathogenesis, the effect of pregnancy, and targeted therapy of ALD.

Trends in Alcohol-Induced Deaths in the United States, 2000-2016

IMPORTANCE

Notable increases in mortality from alcohol-induced causes over the past 2 decades in the United States have been reported. However, comprehensive assessments of trends in alcohol-induced mortality by sex, age, race/ethnicity, and social and geographic factors are lacking.

OBJECTIVE

To examine trends in alcohol-induced mortality rates from 2000 to 2016, comparing results by demographic characteristics including sex, race/ethnicity, age, county-level socioeconomic status, and geographic location.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This serial cross-sectional study used US national vital statistics data for years 2000 to 2016 for all US residents older than 15 years. Data analysis was conducted from January to September 2019.

EXPOSURES

Trends in alcohol-induced mortality by sex, race/ethnicity, age, county-level socioeconomic status (ie, median income, percentage of unemployed residents, percentage of residents with a bachelor's degree), rurality level, and US state.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Alcohol-induced mortality, ie, deaths for which alcohol holds a population-attributable fraction of 1. Deaths were expressed per 100 000 residents as absolute and age-standardized rates. Mortality trends were measured as average annual percentage changes (AAPCs) for the entire period (ie, 2000-2016) and annual percentage changes (APCs) for individual periods of change within the study period.

RESULTS

A total of 425 045 alcohol-induced deaths were identified from 2000 to 2016 (2000: 19 627 deaths; 14 979 [76.3%] men; 2016: 34 857 deaths; 25 213 [73.3%] men). The rate of alcohol-induced deaths increased substantially among men (AAPC, 1.4%; 95% CI, 1.0% to 1.8%) and women (AAPC, 3.1%; 95% CI, 2.6% to 3.6%) and accelerated recently (men, 2012-2016: APC, 4.2%; 95% CI, 3.1% to 5.3%; women, 2013-2016: APC, 7.1%; 95% CI, 5.1% to 9.1%). The largest increases by race/ethnicity were observed among American Indian and Alaska Native men (AAPC, 3.3%; 95% CI, 2.6% to 4.0%), American Indian and Alaska Native women (AAPC, 4.2%; 95% CI, 3.8% to 4.6%), and white women (AAPC, 4.1%; 95% CI, 3.6% to 4.7%). Despite initial declines among black women, black men, and Latino men (eg, Latino men, 2000-2003: APC, -5.1%; 95% CI, -9.8% to -0.1%; 2003-2013: APC, -0.6%; 95% CI, -1.4% to 0.2%), increases occurred later in the study period (eg, Latino men, 2013-2016: APC, 4.1%; 95% CI, 0.3% to 8.1%). The rates of increase varied by age group and in turn by racial/ethnic group. Among white individuals, large absolute increases occurred in midlife (eg, men aged 55-59 years, 2000-2003: 25.5 deaths per 100 000 residents; 2013-2016: 43.3 deaths per 100 000 residents; women aged 50-54 years, 2000-2003: 7.4 deaths per 100 000 residents; 2013-2016: 16.5 deaths per 100 000 residents), although APCs were also large for ages 25 to 34 years, ranging from 4.6% to 6.9% per year among men and from 7.3% to 12.0% among women. Among American Indian and Alaska Native individuals, increases throughout the age range were observed, with the largest absolute increase occurring for ages 45 to 49 years among men (2000-2013: 113.6 deaths per 100 000 residents; 2013-2016: 193.1 deaths per 100 000 residents) and for ages 50 to 54 among women (2000-2013: from 56.1 deaths per 100 000 residents; 2013-2016: 105.1 deaths per 100 000 residents).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

This study found large increases in alcohol-induced death rates across age and racial/ethnic subgroups of the US population, which have accelerated over recent years. Large increases in alcohol-induced deaths among younger age groups may be associated with future increases in alcohol-related disease.

Long-Term Follow-Up of Advanced Liver Disease after Sustained Virological Response to Treatment of Hepatitis C with Direct-Acting Antivirals: Outcomes from a Real-World Portuguese Cohort

Background

Direct-acting antivirals (DAA) have revolutionized hepatitis C treatment, with high sustained virological response (SVR) rates reported, even in historically difficult-to-treat groups. SVR is associated with a decreased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), need for transplantation, and overall and liver-related mortality. Data from real-life cohorts on the medium- to long-term outcomes of patients with advanced liver disease and DAA-induced SVR are still missing.

Objectives

To report and analyze the long-term outcomes of DAA-induced SVR in a real-life cohort of patients with advanced liver disease.

Method

In this retrospective, longitudinal, single-center study, we collected data from patients with chronic hepatitis C infection and advanced liver disease (cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis) that had initiated DAA treatment between February 2015 and January 2017.

Results

A total of 237 patients were included. A treatment completion rate of 98.7% and an SVR rate of 97.8% (intention to treat: 96.6%) were found. Of the 229 patients with SVR, 67.2% were cirrhotic (64.2% Child-Pugh class A; 3.1% Child-Pugh class B) and 32.8% had stage F3 fibrosis, with an average follow-up of 28 months. The overall mortality rate was 19/1,000 person-years and the liver-related mortality rate was 9.5/1,000 person-years. The hepatic decompensation incidence rate was 25/1,000 person-years and the HCC incidence rate was 11.6/1,000 person-years. There was a sustained increase in serum platelet values during up to 2 years of follow-up. A history of pretreatment decompensation and baseline platelet and albumin values were significantly associated with the occurrence of adverse liver events after the end of treatment.

Conclusions

A DAA-induced SVR remains durable and is associated with an excellent clinical prognosis in patients with compensated advanced liver disease and with improvement or disease stabilization in decompensated patients. SVR is associated with a low risk of - yet does not prevent - HCC occurrence or disease progression, especially in the presence of other causes of liver injury. It is recommended that these patients be kept under surveillance.