Abstract
Introduction: Cryoglobulinemia is a biomarker of autoimmunity correlated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Objective: Report the association between the presence of mixed-cryoglobulinemia and thyroid dysfunction (TD) in hepatitis C virus carriers before and during treatment with pegylatedinterferon-alpha (Peg-IFN-α). Methods: Prospective cohort study. Results: Sixty-five untreated HCV patients, 38 women and 27 men were included in this study. Mean age of patients was 49.61 ± 11.83 years. Cryoglobulinemia was demonstrated in 24 (36.92%) patients. The TD was demonstrated in 2 patients (3.10%) before treatment with IFN-α, in 4 patients (6.20%) at 12th week, and 8 patients (12.30%) at 24th week; whereas autoimmune thyroid (TPO-Ab) positive was demonstrated in 3 patients (4.60%) before treatment, in 7 patients (10.80%) at 12th week, and 12 patients (18.50%) at 24th week. In the sample analyzed, the risk of a patient with cryoglobulinemia develop TD was 2.74 (95% CI: 1.95–12.95) times that of a patient without cryoglobulinemia in the 12th week of treatment and 1.83 (95% CI: 1.03–7.08) times in the 24th week of antiviral treatment, and risk of a patient with cryoglobulinemia for develop TPO Ab positive was 2.44 (95% CI: 1.46–5.98) times that of a patient without cryoglobulinemia in the 12th week of treatment, and 1.31 (95% CI: 1.05–2.89) times in the 24th weeks of antiviral treatment. Conclusion: We concluded that thyroid function evaluation should be recommended for HCV carriers that are seropositive for cryoglobulinemia.
Highlights
Cryoglobulinemia is a biomarker of autoimmunity correlated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection
We concluded that thyroid function evaluation should be recommended for HCV carriers that are seropositive for cryoglobulinemia
C infection (HCV), exacerbated by pegylated interferon-alpha (Peg-IFN-α) treatment.[1]. Mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC) is a systemic vasculitis was characterised by the deposition of circulating immuno-complexes in small and medium-sized blood vessels resulting in a variety of clinical manifestations
Summary
Cryoglobulinemia is a biomarker of autoimmunity correlated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Objective: Report the association between the presence of mixed-cryoglobulinemia and thyroid dysfunction (TD) in hepatitis C virus carriers before and during treatment with pegylatedinterferon-alpha (Peg-IFN-α). Sixty-five HCV carriers (38 women and 27 men), with a mean age of 49.61 ± 11.83 years (ranging from 20 to 67 years), from one hepatitis reference center in Salvador (Bahia, Brazil) were included in this study. They tested positive for serum anti-HCV antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with structural and non-structural HCV antigens (AXSYM System; Abbott Laboratories, Chicago, IL, USA) and for HCV-RNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) The objective of this study was to identify the frequency of the autoimmune changes, and assess the association between the presence of cryoglobulinemia and TD in hepatitis C virus carriers before and during treatment with Peg-IFN-α
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