Evaluating short-term and long-term liver fibrosis improvement in hepatitis C patients post-DAA treatment

• Published in: Journal of biomedical research p. 1
• Main Authors: Wang, Yifan, Ma, Xinyan, Zou, Yanzheng, Yue, Ming, Zhang, Meiling, Yu, Rongbin, Chen, Hongbo, Huang, Peng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: China 21.03.2024
• Subjects: liver fibrosis; sustained virologic response; direct-acting antivirals; chronic hepatitis C
• ISSN: 1674-8301
• DOI: 10.7555/JBR.37.20230284

Despite achieving a high cure rate with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) in hepatitis C treatment, further research is needed to identify additional benefits of the DAA therapy. The current study evaluated liver fibrosis improvement in 848 hepatitis C patients treated with DAAs, who also achieved sustained virologic response (SVR). Using the fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index, patients were categorized based on their baseline fibrosis level, and improvements in fibrosis were analyzed in both the short-term (9-26 weeks) and long-term (≥ 36 weeks) follow-up. The results showed a significant decrease in the FIB-4 index, indicating an improvement in liver fibrosis, in 63.00% of the patients during the short-term follow-up and 67.56% during the long-term follow-up. Short-term improvement was associated with factors including ribavirin (RBV) usage, blood cholinesterase levels, alanine transaminase levels, albumin levels, and the baseline FIB-4 index. Additionally, long-term improvement was associated with factors such as aspartate transaminase levels, total protein level, and the baseline FIB-4 index. The current study emphasizes the importance of continuous assessment and post-treatment monitoring of liver fibrosis, providing crucial insights for enhancing patient care in hepatitis C management.