Post-Treatment Course of Indices Predicting Liver Fibrosis in Adult Chronic Hepatitis C Patients Treated with Direct-Acting Antivirals

Objectives: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a chronic infection that can lead to liver failure, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma over time. In recent years, direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have mostly eliminated the virus. Studies on their effect on the improvement of liver fibrosis are ongoing. Indices such as the aspartate transaminase platelet ratio index (APRI), fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4), aspartate transaminase to alanine transaminase ratio (AAR), fibrosis index, and gamma glutamyl transferase to platelet ratio (GPR) are suggested to predict liver fibrosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the course of these indices before and after DAA treatment. Materials and Methods: The data of patients aged 18 years and older who were treated with DAAs for HCV infection in certain outpatient clinics of infectious diseases and clinical microbiology of a reference center between February 19, 2019 and May 31, 2023 were collected from the electronic record system. Demographic information, comorbidities, information about HCV infection, hemogram, and biochemical tests required for calculating the indices were obtained.Results: The study included 131 patients. The median age of the patients was 31 [interquartile range (IQR): 27] years. At the end of the treatment, the patients were followed up for a median of 183 days for hemogram (n=81) and 185 days for biochemical tests (n=82). Among the indices, APRI (p<0.001), FIB-4 (p<0.001), fibrosis index (p=0.004) and GPR (p<0.001) increased significantly after DAA compared with before, while AAR decreased.Conclusion: In this study, it was determined that fibrosis predictive indices indicated a after treatment.