Short-term effects of direct-acting antiviral agents on inflammation and gut microbiota in hepatitis C-infected patients.

Short-term effects of direct-acting antiviral agents on inflammation and gut microbiota in hepatitis C-infected patients. Eur J Intern Med. 2019 Jun 17;: Authors: Pérez-Matute P, Íñiguez M, Villanueva-Millán MJ, Recio-Fernández E, Vázquez AM, Sánchez SC, Morano LE, Oteo JA Abstract Liver damage is associated with gut dysbiosis. New direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) are able to eradicate hepatitis C virus (HCV) from the body. However, the short and medium-term effects of DAAs at gut level before advanced liver damage occurs have not been evaluated yet. Thus, we investigated the impact of HCV and DAAs on gut microbiota composition (GM) and systemic inflammation. To achieve this objective, twenty-three non HCV-infected controls and 22 HCV-infected patients were recruited. Only non-cirrhotic patients (fibrosis stage 0-3) were included to avoid the direct impact of cirrhosis and portal hypertension on gut. The HCV-groups were evaluated before the treatment, after completing DAAs treatment and after 3 months. Fecal bacterial 16S rDNA was ultrasequenced and several biochemical/metabolic/inflammatory parameters were quantified. HCV infection was accompanied by a significant increase in TNFα plasma levels. DAAs were able to reduce this increase, especially in lower fibrosis grades. HCV infection was not accompanied by dramatic changes in α-diversity and was not recovered after HCV negativization, although a complete restoration...
Source: European Journal of Internal Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Tags: Eur J Intern Med Source Type: research