title: Is neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin useful in hepatitis C virus infection?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL) in patients infected by hepatitis C virus (HCV) before and during treatment with directly acting antivirals (DAAs).
  
  
  METHODS
  NGAL was measured in a group of patients with chronic HCV infection ranked, at baseline, by age, gender, anti-hypertensive therapy, HCV viral load, liver fibrosis stage and, either at baseline or after 1 year, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Then, NGAL and eGFR evolutions were monitored in a subgroup of patients who started antiviral therapy with DAAs. Differences of median NGAL levels were evaluated through Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test for non-parametric data. Differences in dichotomous variables were evaluated through χ (2) test. At baseline, a univariate regression analysis was conducted to verify if NGAL values correlated with other quantitative variables [age, fibrosis four (FIB-4), AST to platelet ratio index (APRI), and eGFR].
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 48 patients were enrolled, 8 of them starting HCV treatment. At baseline, statistically significant differences were found in median NGAL values only between patients with eGFR < 60 mL/min vs patients with eGFR ≥ 90 mL/min. Differences in NGAL were not significant among patients ranked by HCV viral load, FIB-4 score and APRI, when patients with NGAL > 118.11 ng/dL were compared with those of NGAL ≤ 118.11 ng/dL, not statistically significant differences were present for age, gender, chronic kidney disease classification and liver fibrosis (P > 0.05). Linear correlation was found between NGAL and both age (P = 0.0475) and eGFR (P = 0.0282) values. Not statistically significant predictions of NGAL at baseline were demonstrated for eGFR evolution 1 year later. Interestingly, in the 8 patients treated with DAAs, median NGAL significantly increased at week 12 compared to baseline (P = 0.0239).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that NGAL should be further evaluated as an adjunct marker of kidney function in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Strazzulla
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Coppolino
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Concetta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Fatta
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Giancotti
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: D'Onofrio
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Concetta
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Postorino
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mazzitelli
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Selma Valerie
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Mammone
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Innocenza
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rivoli
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Palella
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gravina
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pisani
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: De Maria
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio Settimo
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Barreca
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marascio
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Focà
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fuiano
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Elio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gulletta
authors.affiliation: Alessio Strazzulla, Maria Concetta Postorino, Maria Mazzitelli, Selma Valerie Mammone, Chiara Costa, Vincenzo Pisani, Carlo Torti, Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Torti
keywords: Directly acting antivirals; Hepatitis C virus; Inflammation; Neutrophil gelatinase lipocalin; Tubular impairment