Search results for "hepatitis C viru"

Dual therapy with peg-interferon and ribavirin in thalassemia major patients with chronic HCV infection: Is there still an indication?

2016

Background: Iron overload and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection together can lead to chronic liver damage in thalassemia major (TM) patients. Aims: We investigated viral, genetic, and disease factors influencing sustained virological response (SVR) after peg-interferon and ribavirin therapy in TM patients with HCV infection. Methods: We analyzed 230 TM patients with HCV infection (mean age 36.0 ± 6.3 years; 59.1% genotype 1; 32.2% genotype 2; 3.4% genotype 3; and 5.3% genotype 4; 28.7% carried CC allele of rs12979860 in IL28B locus; 79.6% had chronic hepatitis and 20.4% cirrhosis; 63.5% naive and 36.5% previously treated with interferon alone) treated in 14 Italian centers. Results: By mul…

Increased incidence or recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in hepatitis C virus cirrhotic patients treated with direct-acting antivirals: myth or …

2018

Chronic hepatitis B in Italy: New features of an old disease - Approaching the universal prevalence of hepatitis B e antigen-negative cases and the e…

2008

We evaluated 1336 hepatitis B surface antigen-positive subjects consecutively observed in 79 Italian hospitals over a 6-month period. The proportion of hepatitis B e antigen-negative cases was 86.4%, that of patients coinfected with hepatitis D virus was 9.7%, and the rate of patients coinfected with hepatitis C virus was 16.8%. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that age >49 years, alcohol abuse, and anti-hepatitis D virus and anti-hepatitis C virus positivity were independent predictors of progression to liver cirrhosis. © 2007 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.

Treatment of hepatitis C virus infection with direct-acting antiviral drugs is safe and effective in patients with hemoglobinopathies

2017

Progression of liver fibrosis in patients with hemoglobinopathies is strongly related to the severity of iron overload and the presence of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Effective iron chelation therapy and HCV infection eradication may prevent liver complications. The European Association for the Study of the Liver guidelines recommend interferon-free regimens for the treatment of HCV infection in patients with hemoglobinopathies. However, data regarding the use of direct-acting antiviral drugs (DAAs) in this patient population are few. This observational study evaluated the safety and efficacy of therapy with DAAs in an Italian cohort of patients with hemoglobinopathies, chron…

Treatment of Hepatitis C virus infection in Italy: A consensus report from an expert panel

2017

Abstract Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains one of the main causes of chronic liver disease worldwide. The advent of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) has significantly improved the course of patients with chronic HCV infection (CHC), due to the ability of these drugs to achieve high rates of sustained virological response (SVR). These exceedingly high rates of SVR and the excellent safety data have been confirmed in real life practice. Evolving guidelines have been issued by national and international scientific societies in accordance with the progression of clinical knowledge and the availability of new DAAs. These recommendations, however, may not be applied universally because of …

Impact of hepatitis C virus clearance by direct-acting antiviral treatment on the incidence of major cardiovascular events: A prospective multicentre…

2020

Background and aims: HCV is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events (CV). Whether HCV clearance by direct-acting antivirals (DAA) reduces incident CV disease is poorly understood. We investigate whether HCV eradication reduces CV events. Methods: In a prospective multicentre study, 2204 HCV patients (F0–F2:29.5%, F3–F4: 70.5%) were enrolled. Males were 48%, median age was 68 (59–74) years and BMI 25.9 (23.1–28); 24.7% were smokers, 18% had diabetes, 13.2% had cholesterol levels >200 mg/dl and 9.1% took statins, 44% had hypertension. During an overall median follow-up of 28 (24–39) months, incident CV events, such as ischemic heart disease (IHD) and ischemic cerebral st…

Association between MICA Gene Variants and the Risk of Hepatitis C Virus-Induced Hepatocellular Cancer in a Sicilian Population Sample

2018

There are currently no biomarkers that predict hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related cirrhosis. We investigated the relationships among major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I chain-related gene A (MICA) polymorphisms, plasma levels of soluble MICA (sMICA), and HCC risk in patients with HCV-related HCC. One hundred fifty-four HCV-related HCC patients, 93 HCV-related liver cirrhosis (LC) cases, and 244 healthy controls, all sampled from the native Sicilian population, were genotyped using the KASP™ single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping method. The MICA rs2596542 polymorphism showed that the G/G genotype was significantly more frequent…

Simeprevir and daclatasvir for 12 or 24 weeks in treatment-naïve patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 1b and advanced liver disease

2017

Background & Aims: We investigated the efficacy and safety of simeprevir plus daclatasvir in treatment-naïve patients with chronic, genotype 1b hepatitis C virus infection and advanced liver disease, excluding patients with pre-defined NS5A resistance-associated substitutions. Methods: This phase II, open-label, single-arm, multicentre study included patients aged ≥18 years with advanced fibrosis or compensated cirrhosis (METAVIR F3/4). Patients with NS5A-Y93H or L31M/V resistance-associated substitutions at screening were excluded. Simeprevir (150 mg)+daclatasvir (60 mg) once daily was administered for 12 or 24 weeks; treatment could be extended to 24 weeks prior to or at the Week 12 v…

Hepatitis C in the elderly: a multicentre cross-sectional study by the Italian Association for the Study of the Liver

2012

Background: The prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection increases with advancing age, but elderly hepatitis C virus patients remain an understudied population. Aim: To define the virological, epidemiological and clinical profiles of Italian outpatients aged 65 years and over infected by hepatitis C virus. Methods: We evaluated 1544 anti-hepatitis C virus positive patients aged >=65 years referred to 34 Italian outpatient specialty clinics over a two-year period. Results: The study population included 1134 (73%) early elderly (65-74 years) and 410 (27%) late elderly patients (>=75 years). Late elderly subjects were less likely to have their virus genotyped, their viral load assessed or a h…

Genetic similarity of hepatitis C virus and fibrosis progression in chronic and recurrent infection after liver transplantation

2006

SUMMARY. The effect of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genetic heterogeneity on clinical features of post-transplantation hepatitis C is controversial. Different regions of the HCV genome have been associated with apoptosis, fibrosis, and other pathways leading to liver damage in chronic HCV infection. Besides, differences in immunodominant regions, such as NS3, may influence HCV-specific immune responses and disease outcome. In the liver transplant setting, a recent study has reported a positive association between HCV-1b Core region genetic relatedness 5-year post-transplantation and histological severity of recurrent hepatitis C. We have compared nucleotide sequences of HCV Core, NS3 and NS5b re…