Background/aims: Hepatitis C (HCV) infected patients have significant health-related quality of life (HRQL) impairment which worsens during anti-viral therapy. Our aim was to examine the association of HRQL with treatment-induced depression and anemia.
Methods: Two hundred and seventy-one HCV patients who received pegylated interferon alfa 2b and ribavirin were included. Data on HRQL, depressive symptoms, laboratory values and socio-demographic characteristics were collected.
Results: Mean age was 47.1+/-6.5, 69% were male, and 73% were White. HCV patients' HRQL declined during anti-viral therapy but returned to or exceeded baseline levels within 24 weeks of completion. Anemia and depression were both associated with HRQL impairment. The effects of depression on HRQL were strong; once depression scores were included other factors were no longer significant. Patients' depressive symptoms tended to increase during the initial half of treatment regimen. Those with higher body mass index (BMI), cirrhosis, and women reported more HRQL impairments. HRQL scales were generally not associated with alcohol abuse, age, race, ALT and HCV RNA levels.
Conclusions: Anti-viral therapy for HCV is associated with diminished HRQL. Although anemia and depression were associated with this impairment, depression was the most consistent predictor. Future studies are needed to see whether proactive management of these side effects can improve patients' HRQL and the efficacy of antiviral therapy for hepatitis C.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2005.11.046 | DOI Listing |
Eur J Med Chem
December 2024
SynBioC Research Group, Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Cancer Research Institute Ghent (CRIG), Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address:
Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) is a promising target for treating neurodegenerative disorders, several cancer types and viral infections. Unique among HDACs, the HDAC6 isoform possesses a zinc finger ubiquitin-binding domain (UBD) crucial for managing misfolded protein aggregates and facilitating viral infection. HDAC6 binds aggregated polyubiquitinated proteins through its UBD, mediating their transport to the aggresome and subsequent removal via autophagy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRespir Res
January 2025
Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA Children's Discovery and Innovation Institute, Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Background: Many respiratory viruses attack the airway epithelium and cause a wide spectrum of diseases for which we have limited therapies. To date, a few primary human stem cell-based models of the proximal airway have been reported for drug discovery but scaling them up to a higher throughput platform remains a significant challenge. As a result, most of the drug screening assays for respiratory viruses are performed on commercial cell line-based 2D cultures that provide limited translational ability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Nephrol Case Stud
January 2025
Department of Medicine.
Minimal change disease (MCD) accounts for 10 - 15% of idiopathic nephrotic syndromes in adults. Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is rarely ascribed as a cause of MCD and was previously associated with interferon-based therapy. MCD in treatment-naïve chronic HCV infection is extremely rare, with only 3 cases reported in the literature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFData Brief
February 2025
Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 3M2, Canada.
Tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) is currently administered orally to patients for treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection and as a part of a combination therapy for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. A long-acting delivery system could provide several advantages as a formulation strategy for this drug including improved patient adherence, convenience, more consistent drug levels and potentially fewer side effects. To date, the vast majority of polymer-based long-acting delivery systems have been prepared from poly(lactide--glycolide) [1].
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInflammopharmacology
January 2025
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tanta University, El-Gharbia Government, Tanta, Egypt.
Objective: This study aimed to assess the potential antifibrotic impact of zinc sulfate in chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) patients receiving direct-acting antiviral therapy.
Methods: This randomized controlled study included 50 chronic HCV-infected patients with fibrosis stage (F1 & F2). Participants were randomly assigned to two groups: Group 1 (Control group, n = 25) received standard direct-acting antiviral therapy for 3 months, while Group 2 (Zinc group, n = 25) received 50 mg/day of zinc sulfate in addition to the standard direct-acting antiviral therapy for the same duration.
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