Improvement of steatosis after interferon therapy in HCV genotype 4 is related to weight loss

Abstract

Steatosis is common in genotype 4 HCV infection, and its presence appears to be related to high BMI, but not to viral load or degree of liver injury.

Effect of treatment with direct acting antivirals on body mass index and hepatic steatosis in chronic hepatitis C

“…Our study revealed that steatosis was present in 56.1% of patients similar the prevalence reported by earlier studies that included all genotypes or HCV genotype four alone…”

“…In the present study steatosis remains stationary in half of the population and only improved in quarter of the patients three months post treatment with DAAs. A previous study by Esmat et al which reported the changes in hepatic steatosis after pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy in Egyptian patients. They found that steatosis grade improved in 42.9% of their patients, 45.7% had no change in their steatosis grade while 11.4% only showed worsening of their steatosis grade.…”

Comparative diagnostic study of biomarkers using FibroMax™ and pathology for prediction of liver steatosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection: an Egyptian study

“…We also found that body mass index was significantly higher in the group with steatosis than in the group without steatosis by histopathology. These findings are inconsistent with the finding of other studies in our country 21–23. Due to the increased incidence of HCV, limitations of biopsy, and development of reliable noninvasive blood tests, liver biopsy should no longer be considered mandatory for screening of liver lesions in the first instance.…”

“…It has been assumed by other authors that viral load may be involved in the pathogenesis of steatosis in HCV-infected patients 21. accordingly, in our study, there was a trend towards higher viral load in patients with steatosis as detected by liver biopsy, and there was a significant positive correlation between viral load and steatosis by FibroMax.…”

Prevalence and Impact of Hepatic Steatosis on the Response to Antiviral Therapy in Saudi Patients with Genotypes 1 and 4 Chronic Hepatitis C

“…In the first report by Khattab et al on 131 HCV-G4 patients, steatosis was associated with insulin resistance measured by homeostatic model assessment (HOMA), BMI, waist circumference, serum triglycerides, serum cholesterol, systolic hypertension, and histological scores of inflammation and fibrosis [12]. On the other hand, in the other study also on HCV-G4 Egyptian patients, Esmat et al concluded that the presence of steatosis correlated with BMI but not to viral load, grade of inflammation, or stage of fibrosis [13]. On follow up, they found that improvement in steatosis was significantly associated with the degree of weight loss but not with response to anti-viral treatment.…”