Flunarizine arrests hepatitis C virus membrane fusion.

Written with support from a Senior Research Fellowship from the Wellcome Trust (grant no.: 101908/Z/13/Z) to Y.M. and from grant R01 GM102869 from the National Institutes of Health to Y.M.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hep.2822

Sangiovanni and Colombo

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Should antiviral treatment be extended to patients with chronic hepatitis B and mildly elevated alanine aminotransferase?

No abstract.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69198/1/23496_ftp.pd

Characteristics of liver transplant candidates delisted following recompensation and predictors of such delisting in alcohol-related liver disease: a case-control study

Whether and when recovery beyond the need for transplant may occur in patients listed for decompensation remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of patients delisted following recompensation. Seventy-seven patients who were listed between 2005 and 2015 for decompensation, but later delisted following recompensation were included. Alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) was the underlying etiology in the majority (n=47, 61%). Listing characteristics of these patients were compared with those of decompensated ALD patients who either underwent deceased donor liver transplantation or died on the waiting list. The model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score <20 and serum albumin ≥32g/l at listing were the only independent predictors of recompensation/delisting in ALD. The probability of recompensation was 70% when both factors were present at listing. Interestingly, about a tenth of decompensated ALD patients who died on the waiting list (median duration on waiting list 11 months) and a quarter of decompensated ALD patients who underwent living donor liver transplantation (median duration on waiting list 2 months) also had both factors at listing. In conclusion, ALD seems to be the most favorable etiology for recompensation beyond the need for transplantation. Both MELD and serum albumin at listing independently predict recompensation/delisting in ALD. It seems advisable to implement a period of observation for ALD patients with both favorable factors, before embarking on living donor liver transplantation

A disease-specific decline of the relative abundance of Bifidobacterium in patients with autoimmune hepatitis

BACKGROUND:The pathogenesis of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is poorly understood and little is known about enteric microbiota in AIH. AIM:To investigate disease-specific microbiome alterations in AIH. METHODS:The V1-V2 variable regions of the 16S rRNA gene were sequenced in faecal samples from 347 patients with AIH and controls (AIH n = 72, healthy controls (HC) n = 95, primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) n = 99 and ulcerative colitis (UC) n = 81). RESULTS:Biodiversity (Shannon entropy) was decreased in AIH patients compared to HC (P = 0.016), which was partially reversed by azathioprine (P = 0.011). Regarding between-sample diversity, AIH patients separated from HC, PBC and UC individuals (all P = 0.001). Compared to HC, decreased relative abundance of anaerobic genera such as Faecalibacterium and an increase of Veillonella and the facultative anaerobic genera Streptococcus and Lactobacillus were detected. Importantly, a disease-specific decline of relative abundance of Bifidobacterium was observed in AIH patients. Lack of Bifidobacterium was associated with failure to achieve remission of AIH (P < 0.001). Of potential therapeutic implication, Bifidobacterium abundance correlated with average protein intake (P < 0.001). Random forests classification between AIH and PBC on the microbiome signature yielded an area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.787 in the training cohort, and an AUC of 0.849 in an external validation cohort. CONCLUSION:Disease-specific faecal microbial alterations were identified in patients with AIH. Intestinal dysbiosis in AIH was characterised by a decline of Bifidobacterium, which was associated with increased disease activity. These results point to the contribution of intestinal microbiota to AIH pathogenesis and to novel therapeutic targets

All-oral direct-acting Antiviral Therapy Against Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) in Human Immunodeficiency Virus/HCV– Coinfected Subjects in Real-World Practice: Madrid Coinfection Registry Findings

We evaluated treatment outcomes in a prospective registry of human immunodeficiency virus/hepatitis C virus (HCV)–coinfected patients treated with interferon-free direct-acting antiviral agent–based therapy in hospitals from the region of Madrid between November 2014 and August 2016.We assessed sustained viral response at 12 weeks after completion of treatment and used multivariable logistic regression to identify predictors of treatment failure.We evaluated 2,369 patients, of whom 59.5% did not have cirrhosis, 33.9% had compensated cirrhosis, and 6.6% had decompensated cirrhosis. The predominant HCV genotypes were 1a (40.9%), 4 (22.4%), 1b (15.1%), and 3 (15.0%). Treatment regimens included sofosbuvir (SOF)/ledipasvir (61.9%), SOF plus daclatasvir (14.6%), dasabuvir plus ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir (13.2%), and other regimens (10.3%). Ribavirin was used in 30.6% of patients. Less than 1% of patients discontinued therapy owing to adverse events. The frequency of sustained viral response by intention-to-treat analysis was 92.0% (95% confidence interval, 90.9%-93.1%) overall, 93.8% (92.4%-95.0%) for no cirrhosis, 91.0% (88.8%-92.9%) for compensated cirrhosis, and 80.8% (73.7%-86.6%) for decompensated cirrhosis. The factors associated with treatment failure were male sex (adjusted odds ratio, 1.75; 95% confidence interval, 1.14-2.69), Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention category C (adjusted odds ratio, 1.65; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-2.41), a baseline cluster of differentiation 4– positive (CD41) T-cell count <200/mm3 (adjusted odds ratio, 2.30; 95% confidence interval, 1.35-3.92), an HCV RNA load 800,000 IU/mL (adjusted odds ratio, 1.63; 95% confidence interval, 1.14-2.36), compensated cirrhosis (adjusted odds ratio, 1.35; 95% confidence interval, 0.96-1.89), decompensated cirrhosis (adjusted odds ratio, 2.92; 95% confidence interval, 1.76-4.87), and the use of SOF plus simeprevir, SOF plus ribavirin, and simeprevir plus daclatasvir. Conclusion: In this large real-world study, direct-acting antiviral agent–based therapy was safe and highly effective in coinfected patients; predictors of failure included gender, human immunodeficiency virus–related immunosuppression, HCV RNA load, severity of liver disease, and the use of suboptimal direct-acting antiviral agent–based regimens

EASL Clinical Practice Guidelines on non-invasive tests for evaluation of liver disease severity and prognosis – 2021 update

Non-invasive tests are increasingly being used to improve the diagnosis and prognostication of chronic liver diseases across aetiologies. Herein, we provide the latest update to the EASL Clinical Practice Guidelines on the use of non-invasive tests for the evaluation of liver disease severity and prognosis, focusing on the topics for which relevant evidence has been published in the last 5 years

ADAPT: an algorithm incorporating PRO-C3 accurately identifies patients with NAFLD and advanced fibrosis

Background and Aim: Given the high global prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the need for relevant non-invasive biomarkers and algorithms to accurately stage disease severity is a critical unmet medical need. Identifying those with advanced fibrosis (≥F3) is the most crucial, as these individuals have the greatest risk of adverse, long-term, liver-related outcomes. We aimed to investigate the role of PRO-C3 (a marker of type III collagen formation) as a biomarker for advanced fibrosis in NAFLD. Methods: We measured PRO-C3 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in two large independent cohorts with extensive clinical phenotyping and liver biopsy; 150 in the derivation and 281 in the validation cohort. A PRO-C3 based fibrosis algorithm that included Age, presence of DiAbetes, PRO-C3 (a marker of type III collagen formation), and plaTelet count (“ADAPT”) was developed. Results: PRO-C3 increased with fibrosis stage (rho 0.50 p<0.0001) and was independently associated with advanced fibrosis (OR=1.05, 95% CI 1.02-1.08, p= 0.003). ADAPT showed areas under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC) of 0.86 (95% CI 0.79 to 0.91) in the derivation and 0.87 in the validation cohort (95% CI 0.83 to 0.91) for advanced fibrosis. This was superior to the existing fibrosis scores, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to platelet ratio index (APRI), FIB-4 and NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS) in most comparisons. Conclusion: PRO-C3 is an independent predictor of fibrosis stage in NAFLD. A PRO-C3 based score (ADAPT) accurately identifies patients with NAFLD and advanced fibrosis and is superior to APRI, FIB-4 and NFS