Hepatocyte Versus Stellate Cell Specific Deletion of Liver Fatty Acid Binding Protein (L-FABP) Reveals Cell- Type Specific Roles In Retinol Metabolism, Steatosis and Fibrosis

in 26/67 (39%) patients.Data on fibrosis progression was available in 94, 79, 54 and 36 patients at years one, 2-3, 4-5 and 6-9 after OLT.Here, the proportion of liver fibrosis ≥ Metavir F2 rose from 27% (25/94) in the first year to 75% (27/36) in years 6-9.Likewise, cirrhosis developed in 2.1% (2/94) by year 1 and in 41.7% (15/36) of patients by years 6-9.Graft survival was reduced compared to HCV negative patients at 1 year (85% versus 92%) and 5 years (76% versus 87%) after OLT mainly due to HCV induced graft failure (17/159, 11%).Upon antiviral treatment liver fibrosis remained unchanged (mean Metavir fibrosis score 1.8 versus 1.9) between the pre-and post-treatment evaluation time points in 16 sustained responders, but rose from a mean Metavir score of 1.9 to 3.3 (p<0.001) in 25 non-responders.Conclusions: At least 27 days of aviremia appear sufficient to achieve SVR in the immediate pre-OLT setting for most patients.Using a watch and wait strategy only 25% of patients remained below the Metavir F2 threshold triggering antiviral treatment 6-9 years after OLT, but a significant number of patients was put at risk of HCV induced complications, suggesting antiviral treatment should be strongly considered for patients after OLT irrespective of the early development of liver fibrosis in the DAA era. Sa1549