Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Clinical Infectious Diseases
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1510939

Genotype 3 is linked to worse liver disease progression in hepatitis C patients even after SVR following DAA therapy Authors

Provisionally accepted
Xiping Ran Xiping Ran 1,2Yang Xu Yang Xu 1Ying Wang Ying Wang 1Cheng Zeng Cheng Zeng 3Chen Gong Chen Gong 4Ni Wang Ni Wang 3*DACHUAN CAI DACHUAN CAI 1*
  • 1 Department of Infectious Diseases, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
  • 2 Department of gastroenterology, Chonggang General Hospital, Chongqing, Chongqing, China
  • 3 Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Molecular Biology, Ministry of Education, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, Chongqing, China
  • 4 Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background and Aims: HCV genotype (GT) 3 is associated with rapid liver disease progression.However, the liver disease progression and its risk factors in patients with HCV GT 3 infection after sustained virological response (SVR) following direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) remain unclear. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the liver disease progression of patients with GT3 after SVR.This was a retrospective cohort study of patients with HCV infection who achieved SVR by DAAs. The clinical outcome was overall liver disease progression (OLDP), defined as newly diagnosed compensated liver cirrhosis, decompensated liver cirrhosis, or hepatocellular carcinoma. The incidence of OLDP was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Cox regression analysis identified the risk factors for OLDP.Results: A total of 409 patients (46.9% GT3) were followed for 43.7 (32.9, 58.7) months. The incidence of OLDP was higher in patients with GT 3 (4.63/100PY) than non-GT 3 (0.60/100PY; P < 0.001). According to Cox multivariate analysis, GT 3 was significantly associated with OLDP (HR 6.41, 95% CI 1.82 -22.56; P=0.004). The predictors of OLDP in patients with GT 3 were HCV recurrence (HR 12.15,; P < 0.001) and ; P = 0.046) at baseline.HCV GT 3-infected patients remain at a higher risk of OLDP even after achieving SVR by DAAs, especially patients with advanced liver fibrosis and at high risk for reinfection or virological late relapse.

    Keywords: Hepatitis C virus, Direct-acting antiviral, Sustained virological response, HCV genotype 3, disease progression

    Received: 14 Oct 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Ran, Xu, Wang, Zeng, Gong, Wang and CAI. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Ni Wang, Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases Molecular Biology, Ministry of Education, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016, Chongqing, China
    DACHUAN CAI, Department of Infectious Diseases, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.