Relationships among neurotransmitters, cytokines and cognitive performance for individuals with hepatitis C achieving sustained virologic response: A pilot study

Covid-19 interface with drug misuse and substance use disorders

“…Similarly, several studies observed reduced levels of tryptophan and serotonin and elevated levels of l -kynurenine in serum collected from Covid-19 patients ( Shen et al, 2020 ; Thomas et al, 2020 ), likely via increased IDO activity dictated by inflammatory cytokines and chemokines generated during infection with SARS-CoV2. In line with these studies, patients suffering from HCV-induced cognitive impairments, have increased IDO expression in liver and peripheral monocytes, and increased blood levels of kynurenine that correlate to cognitive dysfunction ( Larrea et al, 2007 ; Schulz et al, 2015 ; Weinstein et al, 2019 ). Moreover, patients suffering from HIV-associated dementia had increased IDO activity when compared to HIV patients without dementia ( Sardar and Reynolds, 1995 ).…”

“…During tryptophan degradation, the bioactive compound kynurenic acid is produced and accounts for diverse biological functions, including regulation of the immune responsivity and involvement in immune-mediated disorders ( Huang et al, 2020b ). Several viral infections, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) ( Huengsberg et al, 1998 ), hepatitis C virus (HCV) ( Larrea et al, 2007 ), and herpes simplex virus (HSV) ( Atlas et al, 2013 ) increase activation of the kynurenine pathway, which interestingly is implicated in the neurological and cognitive impairments of HIV, HCV, and HSV patients ( Atlas et al, 2013 ; Baran et al, 2012 ; Weinstein et al, 2019 ). Therefore, it is possible that the kynurenine pathway is a driving factor in the development of Covid-19 neurological sequelae given that the kynurenine pathway is activated in patients with Covid-19.…”

Neuroimaging Findings in Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection: Correlation with Neurocognitive and Neuropsychiatric Manifestations

“…Higher basal ganglia perfusion after therapy was also observed, but this finding did not correlate with other neuropsychiatric and DTI changes [25]. In a pilot study, improvement of working memory, visual and verbal memory and executive function after treatment with ledipasvir-sofosbuvir correlated with several inflammatory biomarkers in peripheral blood, such as tumor necrosis factor-α, IFN-γ and catechol-O-methyl-transferase [80].…”

Neuropsychological effects of direct‐acting antiviral treatment for Hepatitis C virus subjects: A systematic review

“…The direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) are a set of medications used to treat patients infected by the HCV. The summary of study characteristics and quality assessment of the 12 [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40] included studies are presented in Table 2. Two of them were considered high quality, whilst the remaining ten others had ratings ranging from 4 to 6 stars, suggesting moderate quality.…”

“…Nine of the studies only evaluated it at the end of DAAs treatment. 29,[31][32][33][34][35][38][39][40] The other studies evaluated it twice-during, soon after the end, or after the end of DAAs treatment. 30,36,37 Amongst the results related to the cognitive effect of DAAs treatment, some studies had one or two control groups of healthy subjects, subjects coinfected with HIV and/or subjects with another clinical condition.…”