Top liver studies presented at ACG

Healio.com/Hepatology has compiled a list of the latest, most relevant research on hepatitis C virus infection, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, drug-induced liver injury and more liver-related topics, presented recently at the ACG Annual Scientific Meeting in Philadelphia.

Direct-acting antiviral therapy led to high SVR rates in patients with HCV genotype 1b

Patients with hepatitis C virus infection genotype 1b achieved sustained virologic response after 12 weeks of therapy with a regimen of three direct-acting antivirals, with and without ribavirin.

“In treatment naive and treatment experienced genotype 1b patients without cirrhosis, the 3D regimen with or without ribavirin achieves optimal treatment efficacy regardless of prior treatment response,” Andreas Maieron, MD, of Elizabeth Hospital, Austria, said during a presentation. Read more

Antimicrobials, herbal and dietary supplements common causes of idiosyncratic DILI

Antimicrobials and herbal and dietary supplements are the most common causes of idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury, or DILI.

Naga P. Chalasani

“DILI is certainly rare, but it carries significant morbidity and mortality,” Naga P. Chalasani, MD, a professor of cellular and integrative physiology at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Bloomington, said. “Antimicrobials and herbal and dietary supplements are the big, two most common groups of agents to cause DILI in our experience.” Read more

NAFLD common in patients with IBD

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD, was prevalent among patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

“We found there was a marked increase in those with [NAFLD] in the IBD population; we saw 44% compared to 15.7%, which is a dramatic increase,” Jason A. Dundulis, MD, of the University of Missouri, Kansas City School of Medicine, said. “It is worth further evaluation with subsequent studies.” Read more

Jason A. Dundulis

New and upcoming therapies for the treatment of HCV

In an exclusive video interview, Paul Y. Kwo, MD, HCV Next Editorial Board member, discusses the new and upcoming therapies, including the recently approved combination regimen of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir, to treat patients with hepatitis C virus infection. He further discusses how the new therapies will impact patients within this specific population in the future.

“With a lot of hard work, we should be able to successfully treat and eradicate this disease within the next several decades,” Kwo said. Read more

Cardiovascular risk factors prevalent among pediatric liver transplant patients

Metabolic syndrome and other cardiac disorders were prevalent among a population of pediatric liver transplant recipients.

“The pediatric liver transplant population is an evolving population,” Shankar Baskar, MD, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio, said. “We have really good survival data on them and 85% of them survive through the first 5 years. This population will go into adulthood and as we already know, the adult population, especially with liver transplant, have a lot of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.” Read more

Shankar Baskar

Decreased hemoglobin levels did not impact SVR rate in patients treated for HCV genotype 1

Decreased hemoglobin levels were well-managed in patients with hepatitis C virus infection receiving a three direct-acting antiviral regimen with or without ribavirin and did not affect response to treatment.

“The 3D regimen was well-tolerated with and without ribavirin in treatment-naïve and treatment-experienced patients,” Vinod Rustgi, MD, of Metropolitan Research, Fairfax,Virginia, said. “Clinically significant decreases in hemoglobin were uncommon. SVR12 rates were not impacted by RBV dose modification.” Read more

Regular aspirin use was associated with lower NAFLD prevalence

Regular aspirin use was associated with a decreased prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease among men and older patients.

“Our biologically plausible findings suggest regular aspirin use may be associated with a lower prevalence of NAFLD, primarily in men or those who are older,” Huafeng Shen, MD, of the Nassau University Medical Center, New York, said.

According to Shen, younger or female patients “may require higher aspirin doses to achieve a drug effect against NAFLD,” he said. Read more

For more coverage from the ACG Annual Scientific Meeting, visit the resource center here.