No gender differences in the 24 month decline of non-invasive liver fibrosis markers in HCV-mono and HCV/HIV coinfection after direct-acting antiviral therapy

Abstract

Abstract Purpose Untreated HCV mono and HCV/HIV coinfected women have lower degrees of liver fibrosis (LF) compared to men. Direct acting antiviral (DAA) therapy attains viral eradication in > 90% of patients with progressive LF decline in parallel. Gender-related differences in LF regression in the long term assessed by non-invasive liver fibrosis markers (NILFM) in HCV mono and HCV/HIV coinfected after DAA treatment have not been explored so far Patients and Methods 374 HCV-infected adult patients, of them 214 HCV-HIV coinfected, were followed-up for 24 months after starting DAA therapy. LF was assessed by NILFM: transient elastometry (TE) and several biochemical indexes (APRI, Forns, FIB-4). Results Men had significantly more advanced LF at baseline than women assessed by NILFM. No LF differences at baseline in age, HIV coinfection course (CD4, HIV viral load), and HCV features (HCV viral load, genotype) were detected. No significant gender differences in LF decline after comparing 24-month and baseline LF values were observed. LF changes after DAA therapy were similar in HCV mono and HCV/HIV coinfected patients and in both sexes. Gender did not influence the course of LF decline after DAA assessed by NILFM: TE (p = 0.8), APRI (P = 0.9)), Forns (P = 0.4) and FIB-4 (P = 0. 7) by multivariate analysis. Conclusions No gender differences in the 24 month LF decline after DAA with independence of having HCV mono or HCV/HIV coinfection were found.