Can successful treatment by direct-acting antivirals improve depression in chronic HCV patients?

Background: Depression is the most common extrahepatic neuropsychiatric manifestation in chronic hepatitis C (CHCV) and is due to direct neuropathogenic mechanisms. Our aim is to evaluate the effect of viral clearance by directly acting antivirals (DAAs) on depression in CHCV patients.

Methods: One hundred fifty chronic HCV patients eligible for DAAs were assessed for depression using the Beck depression inventory (BDI) scale at baseline, 1 and 3 months after end of treatment (EOT).

Subclinical autoimmune thyroid disorders in Egyptian patients with untreated chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

The frequency of anti-thyroid antibodies and subclinical thyroid disorders in Egyptian patients with untreated chronic hepatitis type C was estimated. In addition, it determines the correlation between the seropositivity of anti-thyroid antibodies and serum thyroid stimulating hormone level in chronic HCV positive patients. Also, the impact of hepatic decompensation in inducing thyroid autoimmunity in such patients was evaluated.