Management of Hepatitis C Viral Infection Pre- and Post-liver Transplantation

Sung Won Lee; Si Hyun Bae

doi:10.4285/jkstn.2013.27.1.1

Journal List > J Korean Soc Transplant > v.27(1) > 1034394

Go to TopGo to Top Go to BottomGo to Bottom

TOOLS

Lee and Bae: Management of Hepatitis C Viral Infection Pre- and Post-liver Transplantation

Review Article

J Korean Soc Transplant 2013;27(1):1-5.

Published online: 11 March 2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4285/jkstn.2013.27.1.1

Management of Hepatitis C Viral Infection Pre- and Post-liver Transplantation

Sung Won Lee, M.D., Si Hyun Bae, M.D.

Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

책임저자：배시현, 서울시 서초구 반포대로 222 가톨릭대학교 서울성모병원 소화기내과, 137-040 Tel: 02-2258-6020, Fax: 02-3481-4025 E-mail: baesh@catholic.ac.kr

Received 8 March 201313 March 2013 Accepted 13 March 2013

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

One of the strategies to improve the outcomes of liver transplantation of hepatitis C viral infection related diseases is antiviral therapy pre- and post-liver transplantation. The antiviral therapies have been attempted at various time points; pretransplantation period, pre-emptively after transplantation, a few months after transplantation, and in the cases of obvious recurrence. The goal of the pretransplantation antiviral therapy is to prevent HCV reinfection and the purpose of the posttransplantation antiviral therapy is to prevent HCV recurrence and liver damage. Peginterferon and ribavirin is the treatment of choice at this time but there are many treatment related side effects and the virologic response is still far from satisfactory. In this article, we have reviewed the results of the antiviral therapies against hepatitis C viral infection before and after liver transplantation and looked at the antiviral agents currently under investigation with special focus on the direct acting agents.

Keywords: Liver transplantation, Hepatitis C, Antiviral agents

REFERENCES

1). Everson GT. Treatment of patients with hepatitis C virus on the waiting list. Liver Transpl. 2003; 9:S90–4.

2). Forns X, Navasa M, Rodés J. Treatment of HCV infection in patients with advanced cirrhosis. Hepatology. 2004; 40:498.

3). Crippin JS, McCashland T, Terrault N, Sheiner P, Charlton MR. A pilot study of the tolerability and efficacy of antiviral therapy in hepatitis C virus-infected patients awaiting liver transplantation. Liver Transpl. 2002; 8:350–5.

4). Iacobellis A, Siciliano M, Perri F, Annicchiarico BE, Leandro G, Caruso N, et al. Peginterferon alfa-2b and ribavirin in patients with hepatitis C virus and decompensated cirrhosis: a controlled study. J Hepatol. 2007; 46:206–12.

5). Tekin F, Gunsar F, Karasu Z, Akarca U, Ersoz G. Safety, tolerability, and efficacy of pegylated-interferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin in HCV-related decompensated cirrhotics. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2008; 27:1081–5.

6). Thomas RM, Brems JJ, Guzman-Hartman G, Yong S, Cavaliere P, Van Thiel DH. Infection with chronic hepatitis C virus and liver transplantation: a role for interferon therapy before transplantation. Liver Transpl. 2003; 9:905–15.

7). Roche B, Samuel D. Hepatitis C virus treatment pre- and post-liver transplantation. Liver Int. 2012; 32(Suppl 1):120–8.

8). McHutchison JG, Dusheiko G, Shiffman ML, Rodriguez- Torres M, Sigal S, Bourliere M, et al. Eltrombopag for thrombocytopenia in patients with cirrhosis associated with hepatitis C. N Engl J Med. 2007; 357:2227–36.

9). Garcia-Retortillo M, Forns X, Feliu A, Moitinho E, Costa J, Navasa M, et al. Hepatitis C virus kinetics dur-ing and immediately after liver transplantation. Hepatology. 2002; 35:680–7.

10). Chalasani N, Manzarbeitia C, Ferenci P, Vogel W, Fontana RJ, Voigt M, et al. Peginterferon alfa-2a for hepatitis C after liver transplantation: two randomized, controlled trials. Hepatology. 2005; 41:289–98.

11). Mazzaferro V, Tagger A, Schiavo M, Regalia E, Pulvirenti A, Ribero ML, et al. Prevention of recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation with early interferon and ribavirin treatment. Transplant Proc. 2001; 33:1355–7.

12). Shergill AK, Khalili M, Straley S, Bollinger K, Roberts JP, Ascher NA, et al. Applicability, tolerability and efficacy of preemptive antiviral therapy in hepatitis C-in-fected patients undergoing liver transplantation. Am J Transplant. 2005; 5:118–24.

13). Sugawara Y, Makuuchi M, Matsui Y, Kishi Y, Akamatsu N, Kaneko J, et al. Preemptive therapy for hepatitis C virus after living-donor liver transplantation. Transplantation. 2004; 78:1308–11.

14). Kuo A, Tan V, Lan B, Khalili M, Feng S, Roberts JP, et al. Long-term histological effects of preemptive antiviral therapy in liver transplant recipients with hepatitis C virus infection. Liver Transpl. 2008; 14:1491–7.

15). Castells L, Esteban JI, Bilbao I, Vargas V, Allende H, Ribera E, et al. Early antiviral treatment of hepatitis C virus recurrence after liver transplantation in HIV-in-fected patients. Antivir Ther. 2006; 11:1061–70.

16). Zimmermann T, Böcher WO, Biesterfeld S, Zimmermann A, Kanzler S, Greif-Higer G, et al. Efficacy of an escalating dose regimen of pegylated interferon alpha-2a plus ribavirin in the early phase of HCV reinfection after liver transplantation. Transpl Int. 2007; 20:583–90.

17). Wiesner RH, Sorrell M, Villamil F. International Liver Transplantation Society Expert Panel. Report of the first International Liver Transplantation Society expert panel consensus conference on liver transplantation and hepatitis C. Liver Trans. 2003; 9:S1–9.

18). Berenguer M, Palau A, Aguilera V, Rayón JM, Juan FS, Prieto M. Clinical benefits of antiviral therapy in patients with recurrent hepatitis C following liver transplantation. Am J Transplant. 2008; 8:679–87.

19). Picciotto FP, Tritto G, Lanza AG, Addario L, De Luca M, Di Costanzo GG, et al. Sustained virological response to antiviral therapy reduces mortality in HCV reinfection after liver transplantation. J Hepatol. 2007; 46:459–65.

20). Angelico M, Petrolati A, Lionetti R, Lenci I, Burra P, Donato MF, et al. A randomized study on peginterferon alfa-2a with or without ribavirin in liver transplant recipients with recurrent hepatitis C. Journal of hepatology. J Hepatol. 2007; 46:1009–17.

21). Carrión JA, Navasa M, García-Retortillo M, García-Pagan JC, Crespo G, Bruguera M, et al. Efficacy of antiviral therapy on hepatitis C recurrence after liver transplantation: a randomized controlled study. Gastroentero-logy. 2007; 132:1746–56.

22). Castells L, Vargas V, Allende H, Bilbao I, Luis Lázaro J, Margarit C, et al. Combined treatment with pegylated interferon (alpha-2b) and ribavirin in the acute phase of hepatitis C virus recurrence after liver transplantation. J Hepatol. 2005; 43:53–9.

23). Dumortier J, Scoazec JY, Chevallier P, Boillot O. Treatment of recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation: a pilot study of peginterferon alfa-2b and ribavirin combination. J Hepatol. 2004; 40:669–74.

24). Fernández I, Meneu JC, Colina F, García I, Muñoz R, Castellano G, et al. Clinical and histological efficacy of pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy of recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation. Liver Transpl. 2006; 12:1805–12.

25). Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) Hepatitis C Working Party. McCaughan GW, Omata M, Amarapurkar D, Bowden S, Chow WC, et al. Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver consensus statements on the diagnosis, management and treatment of hepatitis C virus infection. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2007; 22:615–33.

26). Mukherjee S, Lyden E. Impact of pegylated interferon al-pha-2B and ribavirin on hepatic fibrosis in liver transplant patients with recurrent hepatitis C: an open-label series. Liver Int. 2006; 26:529–35.

27). Neumann U, Puhl G, Bahra M, Berg T, Langrehr JM, Neuhaus R, et al. Treatment of patients with recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation with peginterferon alfa-2B plus ribavirin. Transplantation. 2006; 82:43–7.

28). Sharma P, Marrero JA, Fontana RJ, Greenson JK, Conjeevaram H, Su GL, et al. Sustained virologic response to therapy of recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation is related to early virologic response and dose adherence. Liver Transpl. 2007; 13:1100–8.

29). Berenguer M, Aguilera V, Prieto M, Ortiz C, Rodríguez M, Gentili F, et al. Worse recent efficacy of antiviral therapy in liver transplant recipients with recurrent hepatitis C: impact of donor age and baseline cirrhosis. Liver Transpl. 2009; 15:738–46.

30). Cescon M, Grazi GL, Cucchetti A, Vetrone G, Ravaioli M, Ercolani G, et al. Predictors of sustained virological response after antiviral treatment for hepatitis C recurrence following liver transplantation. Liver Transpl. 2009; 15:782–9.

31). Oton E, Barcena R, Moreno-Planas JM, Cuervas-Mons V, Moreno-Zamora A, Barrios C, et al. Hepatitis C recurrence after liver transplantation: viral and histologic response to full-dose PEG-interferon and ribavirin. Am J Transplant. 2006; 6:2348–55.

32). Roche B, Sebagh M, Canfora ML, Antonini T, Roque- Afonso AM, Delvart V, et al. Hepatitis C virus therapy in liver transplant recipients: response predictors, effect on fibrosis progression, and importance of the initial stage of fibrosis. Liver Transpl. 2008; 14:1766–77.

33). Selzner N, Renner EL, Selzner M, Adeyi O, Kashfi A, Therapondos G, et al. Antiviral treatment of recurrent hepatitis C after liver transplantation: predictors of response and long-term outcome. Transplantation. 2009; 88:1214–21.

34). Wang CS, Ko HH, Yoshida EM, Marra CA, Richardson K. Interferon-based combination antiviral therapy for hepatitis C virus after liver transplantation: a review and quantitative analysis. Am J Transplant. 2006; 6:1586–99.

35). Selzner N, Guindi M, Renner EL, Berenguer M. Immune-mediated complications of the graft in interferon-treated hepatitis C positive liver transplant recipients. J Hepatol. 2011; 55:207–17.

36). Lok AS, Gardiner DF, Lawitz E, Martorell C, Everson GT, Ghalib R, et al. Preliminary study of two antiviral agents for hepatitis C genotype 1. N Engl J Med. 2012; 366:216–24.

37). Chayama K, Takahashi S, Toyota J, Karino Y, Ikeda K, Ishikawa H, et al. Dual therapy with the nonstructural protein 5A inhibitor, daclatasvir, and the nonstructural protein 3 protease inhibitor, asunaprevir, in hepatitis C virus genotype 1b-infected null responders. Hepatology. 2012; 55:742–8.

38). Suzuki Y, Ikeda K, Suzuki F, Toyota J, Karino Y, Chayama K, et al. Dual oral therapy with daclatasvir and asunaprevir for patients with HCV genotype 1b infection and limited treatment options. J Hepatol [in press 2012 Nov 23].

39). Lawitz E, Poordad F, Kowdley KV, Cohen DE, Podsadecki T, Siggelkow S, et al. A phase 2a trial of 12-week inter-feron-free therapy with two direct-acting antivirals (ABT- 450/r, ABT-072) and ribavirin in IL28B C/C patients with chronic hepatitis C genotype 1. J Hepatol [in press 2013 Feb 21].

40). Soriano V, Gane EJ, Angus P, Stickel F, Bronowicki JP, Roberts S, et al. Efficacy and safety of the interferon (IFN)-free combination of BI 201335 + BI 207127 ± ribavirin (RBV) in treatment-naïve patients with HCV genotype (GT) 1 infection and compensated liver cirrhosis: results from the SOUND-C2 study. Hepatology. 2012; 56(Suppl 1):234A.

TOOLS

Similar articles