Therapy of chronic hcv infection – association between virological response and predictive factors

Abstract

© 2014, Serbian Medical Society . All rights reserved. Objective. The treatment outcome of chronic HCV infection is influenced by numerous host and viral factors (age, sex, stage of fibrosis, immune response, viral load, genotype, etc.). The aim of this study was to estimate the association between the most important predictive factors and the response to therapy in patients with chronic HCV infection. Methods. Our study included 76 patients with chronic HCV hepatitis, who were treated at Clinic for Infectious Diseases in Kragujevac. The treatment was carried out for 24/48 weeks, depending on the genotype of the virus. Results. HCV infection is more common in men, but we did not confirm the association between the age and gender of patients and the treatment outcome. The most common risk factor in patients with a favorable response (SVR and ETR) was the intravenous use of psychoactive substances, whereas blood transfusion and dialysis were the leading risk factors for patients with unfavorable response (NR/RR). The serum aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase were lower in the SVR and ETR group of patients. The low level of basal viremia was registered in the group of patients with sustained virological response, while the highest values were recorded in the NR/RR group of patients. The most frequent HCV genotype was genotype 1, presented in a high percentage in both groups, the patients with favorable and the ones with unfavorable responses to the therapy. The presence of genotype 2 was observed only in patients with an unfavorable response to the therapy. The highest percentage of patients with absence of fibrosis was found in the group of patients with a favorable response. Conclusion. The results of our study show that a positive response to treatment was achieved in almost 90 % of patients with chronic HCV infection. Viral load, genotype and stage of fibrosis were associated with treatment outcome in chronic HCV patients. Our study has not confirmed the association between age, sex or biochemical parameters and therapy response.