title: Longitudinal changes of the laboratory data of chronic hepatitis C patients with sustained virological response on long-term follow-up.
abstract: There is no study that follows up longitudinal changes in laboratory data of patients with C-viral chronic liver disease (C-CLD) who achieved sustained virological esponse (SVR) with interferon treatment in a long-term study. We investigated the laboratory data in a long-term retrospective cohort study of 581 patients with C-CLD who underwent liver biopsy between January 1986 and December 2005. 467 were treated with interferon and 207 of these patients achieved SVR with follow-up periods of 8.36 ± 5.13 years. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, albumin levels, platelet counts, and the aspartate aminotransferase (AST)-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) values were serially examined during the follow-up period. None of the 207 patients with SVR exhibited hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA positivity more than 6 months after the end of IFN treatment. Platelet counts and albumin levels increased only in those with eradication of HCV. APRI values decreased more in patients with SVR than in those with nonsustained virological responses (non-SVR). Patients who achieved SVR and had fibrosis stage 0-1 and 2-4 at enrolment had platelet counts that longitudinally increased by 2.81 ± 3.95 and 5.49 ± 4.53 × 10(3) /μL during the 10-year follow-up period, respectively. Albumin levels continuously increased during the first 2 years by 0.15 ± 0.31 and 0.33 ± 0.37 in fibrosis stage 0-1 and 2-4, respectively and then plateaued. ALT levels decreased rapidly one year after the start of treatment by 110.3 ± 140.0 and 100.5 ± 123.4 in fibrosis 0-1 and 2-4, respectively. HCV RNA negativity persisted in all patients with SVR, and laboratory data including APRI longitudinally improved during the long-term follow-up period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Clinical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba City, Japan.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Maruoka
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Imazeki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yokosuka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D001706:Biopsy; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000473:pathology; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010976:Platelet Count; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000032:analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D012709:Serum Albumin; D007372:Interferons; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase