Topic
Hepatitis C
About: Hepatitis C is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 33004 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1134431 citations. The topic is also known as: hep C & NANBH.
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TL;DR: It is shown that a simple index using readily available laboratory results can identify CHC patients with significant fibrosis and cirrhosis with a high degree of accuracy and may decrease the need for staging liver biopsy specimens among patients with CHC.
3,637 citations
TL;DR: It is reported that a genetic polymorphism near the IL28B gene, encoding interferon-λ-3 (IFN-α-2a) is associated with an approximately twofold change in response to treatment, both among patients of European ancestry and African-Americans.
Abstract: Chronic infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects 170 million people worldwide and is the leading cause of cirrhosis in North America. Although the recommended treatment for chronic infection involves a 48-week course of peginterferon-alpha-2b (PegIFN-alpha-2b) or -alpha-2a (PegIFN-alpha-2a) combined with ribavirin (RBV), it is well known that many patients will not be cured by treatment, and that patients of European ancestry have a significantly higher probability of being cured than patients of African ancestry. In addition to limited efficacy, treatment is often poorly tolerated because of side effects that prevent some patients from completing therapy. For these reasons, identification of the determinants of response to treatment is a high priority. Here we report that a genetic polymorphism near the IL28B gene, encoding interferon-lambda-3 (IFN-lambda-3), is associated with an approximately twofold change in response to treatment, both among patients of European ancestry (P = 1.06 x 10(-25)) and African-Americans (P = 2.06 x 10(-3)). Because the genotype leading to better response is in substantially greater frequency in European than African populations, this genetic polymorphism also explains approximately half of the difference in response rates between African-Americans and patients of European ancestry.
3,529 citations
TL;DR: In conclusion, noninvasive tests can accurately predict hepatic fibrosis and may reduce the need for liver biopsy in the majority of HIV/HCV‐coinfected patients.
3,183 citations
TL;DR: The outcome of cirrhosis and liver-related death is not uniform across the spectrum of nonalcoholic fatty liver, and poor outcomes are more frequent in patients in whom biopsies show ballooning degeneration and Mallory hyaline or fibrosis.
3,167 citations
TL;DR: The strongest factors independently associated with HCV infection were illegal drug use and high-risk sexual behavior, and poverty, having had 12 or fewer years of education, and having been divorced or separated were independently associated.
Abstract: Background Because many persons with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are asymptomatic, population-based serologic studies are needed to estimate the prevalence of the infection and to develop and evaluate prevention efforts. Methods We performed tests for antibody to HCV (anti-HCV) on serum samples from 21,241 persons six years old or older who participated in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted during 1988 through 1994. We determined the prevalence of HCV RNA by means of nucleic acid amplification and the genotype by means of sequencing. Results The overall prevalence of anti-HCV was 1.8 percent, corresponding to an estimated 3.9 million persons nationwide (95 percent confidence interval, 3.1 million to 4.8 million) with HCV infection. Sixty-five percent of the persons with HCV infection were 30 to 49 years old. Seventy-four percent were positive for HCV RNA, indicating that an estimated 2.7 million persons in the United States (95 percent confidence interval, ...
3,014 citations