Influence of Cellular Aging on Liver Stiffness in Patients With Hepatitis C Virus Achieving Sustained Viral Response

Background. Liver stiffness (LS) is not reduced in 10%–30% of patients who achieve sustained viral response (SVR) after hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination with direct-acting antivirals (DAA). Our aim was to analyze whether the parameters associated with cellular aging measured at the DAA initiation...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: González-Serna Martín, Manuel Alejandro, Corma Gómez, Anaïs, Cano Rodríguez, María Mercedes, Rubio Sánchez, Ricardo, Martín Sierra, Carmen, Rincón, Pilar, Martín Carmona, Jesica, Pérez, Margarita, Pineda Vergara, Juan Antonio, Real Navarrete, Luis Miguel, Macías Sánchez, Juan
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/172665
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/172665
https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaf087
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Cellular aging
Liver stiffness
Telomere length
SVR
DAA.
Descripción
Sumario:Background. Liver stiffness (LS) is not reduced in 10%–30% of patients who achieve sustained viral response (SVR) after hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination with direct-acting antivirals (DAA). Our aim was to analyze whether the parameters associated with cellular aging measured at the DAA initiation date are related to LS reduction upon achieving SVR. Methods. In a prospective cohort study (GEHEP-011) we measured several parameters associated with cellular aging, such as telomere attrition, mitochondrial alterations, and soluble biomarkers associated with senescence-associated secretory phenotype at the DAA initiation date, and examined their associations with a significant (≥20%) LS decrease at the SVR time point. Results. In total, 175 individuals were included in this study. In 101 (57.7%) patients, the LS reduction was ≥20% at SVR. In the multivariate analysis adjusted for sex, age, CXCL10, hsPCR, and CCL11 levels, greater relative telomere length (RTL) emerged as the sole variable independently associated with a significant LS decrease in SVR (1.102; 95% confidence interval, 1.001–1.1214; P = .047). Furthermore, changes in LS, including significant decrease, decrease <20%, or increase, were congruently associated with RTL (P = .011). Conclusions. Greater RTL was independently associated with a significant LS reduction in SVR. Thus, increased cellular aging may be responsible for the absence of liver regeneration after HCV eradication. Further studies are required to assess the long-term effects of cellular aging after SVR.