Future of liver disease in the era of direct acting antivirals for the treatment of hepatitis C

作     者：Francesca Romana Ponziani Francesca Mangiola Cecilia Binda Maria Assunta Zocco Massimo Siciliano Antonio Grieco Gian Lodovico Rapaccini Maurizio Pompili Antonio Gasbarrini 

作者机构：Internal MedicineGastroenterology and HepatologyCatholic University Sacred Heart of RomeAgostino Gemelli Hospital GastroenterologyCatholic University Sacred Heart of RomeComplesso Integrato Columbus 

出 版 物：《World Journal of Hepatology》 (世界肝病学杂志（英文版）（电子版）)

年 卷 期：2017年第9卷第7期

页      面：352-367页

学科分类：1004[医学-公共卫生与预防医学(可授医学、理学学位)] 1002[医学-临床医学] 100401[医学-流行病与卫生统计学] 10[医学] 

主　　题：Direct acting antivirals Hepatitis C Liver transplantation Liver fibrosis Cirrhosis Hepatocellular carcinoma 

摘      要：Hepatitis C virus(HCV) infection has been a global health problem for decades, due to the high number of infected people and to the lack of effective and welltolerated therapies. In the last 3 years, the approval of new direct acting antivirals characterized by high rates of virological clearance and excellent tolerability has dramatically improved HCV infection curability, especially for patients with advanced liver disease and for liver transplant recipients. Long-term data about the impact of the new direct acting antivirals on liver fibrosis and liver disease-related outcomes are not yet available, due to their recent introduction. However, previously published data deriving from the use of pegylatedinterferon and ribavirin lead to hypothesizing that we are going to observe, in the future, a reduction in mortality and in the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma, as well as a regression of fibrosis for people previously affected by hepatitis C. In the liver transplant setting, clinical improvement has already been described after treatment with the new direct acting antivirals, which has often led to patients delisting. In the future, this may hopefully reduce the gap between liver organ request and availability, probably expanding liver transplant indications to other clinical conditions. Therefore, these new drugs are going to change the natural history of HCV-related liver disease and the epidemiology of HCV infection worldwide. However, the global consequences will depend on treatment accessibility and on the number of countries that could afford the use of the new direct acting antivirals.