Occult hepatitis C virus infection in hemodialysis patients who achieved a sustained virological response to directly acting antiviral drugs: is it a concern?

Autor: Hend Naguib, Shady Fouad Abouelnaga, Mohamed Mamdouh Elsayed
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Urology and Nephrology.
ISSN: 1573-2584
Popis: Purpose Hepatitis C virus infection is a major health problem in hemodialysis patients. Occult HCV infection is defined as the presence of HCV-RNA in hepatocytes or peripheral blood mononuclear cells without the detection of HCV-RNA in the serum. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence and predictors of occult HCV infection among hemodialysis patients after treatment with direct-acting antiviral agents. Methods This research is a cross-sectional study that included 60 HCV patients maintained on regular HD patients who achieved 24 weeks of sustained virological response after treatment with direct-acting antiviral agents. Real-time PCR was performed to detect HCV-RNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Results HCV-RNA was detected in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of three patients (5%). Occult HCV infection cases were treated by Interferon/ribavirin before direct-acting antiviral agents and two of them had raised pre-treatment alanine aminotransferase levels. Logistic regression analyses revealed that high pre-treatment viral load and raised pre-treatment alanine aminotransferase were associated with an increased risk of occult HCV infection with p value of 0.041 and 0.029, respectively. Conclusions Occult HCV infection in hemodialysis patients who achieved sustained virological response after treatment with direct-acting antiviral agents may occur, and this may necessitate dual testing for HCV in both serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cells to ensure viral clearance. Clinical trials registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04719338.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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