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Hepatic steatosis in chronic hepatitis C: impact on response to anti‐viral treatment with peg‐interferon and ribavirin
Author(s) -
GUIDI M.,
MURATORI P.,
GRANITO A.,
MURATORI L.,
PAPPAS G.,
LENZI M.,
BIANCHI F. B.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
alimentary pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.308
H-Index - 177
eISSN - 1365-2036
pISSN - 0269-2813
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2005.02679.x
Subject(s) - steatosis , ribavirin , medicine , gastroenterology , alanine transaminase , transaminase , fibrosis , hepatitis c , pegylated interferon , aspartate transaminase , elevated transaminases , viral hepatitis , hepatitis c virus , immunology , virus , biology , alkaline phosphatase , enzyme , biochemistry
Summary Background: There is increasing evidence that hepatic steatosis contributes to the progression of liver fibrosis, whereas its impact on the efficacy of anti‐viral treatment is still under investigation. Aim: To evaluate the effect of steatosis on the outcome of combined anti‐viral treatment. Methods: We studied 102 consecutive naive patients with chronic hepatitis C receiving combined anti‐viral therapy (peg‐interferon α ‐2b and ribavirin). Results: Fifty (49%) of 102 patients had evidence of hepatic steatosis (29 grade 1, 16 grade 2 and 5 grade 3). Sustained virological response was similar in patients with and without steatosis (58% vs. 56%); moreover, the grade of steatosis did not affect the rate of sustained virological response (grade 1: 58%, grade 2: 56% and grade 3: 60%). Patients with steatosis had significantly higher serum levels of aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase and γ ‐glutamyltransferase ( P = 0.007, 0.004 and 0.03, respectively), higher histological activity ( P = 0.03), more advanced stage of fibrosis ( P = 0.0394) and more often hepatitis C virus genotype 3 ( P = 0.04). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that hepatic steatosis in chronic hepatitis C, irrespective of its grade, is not a negative prognostic factor of response to combined anti‐viral therapy, even when the histological and biochemical profile of the disease is more aggressive.