Effect of Hepatitis C Virus Treatment on Rejection Incidence and Severity in Post-Liver Transplant Recipients

Abstract

Abstract Background and Aims HCV is a worldwide cause of chronic liver disease, particularly in Egypt where the most prevalent is genotype 4. HCV-associated cirrhosis is the most common indication for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) among adults. HCV infection remains a problem after transplantation, and recurrent hepatic infection is the leading cause of graft failure. Little is known about the long-term effects of direct acting antiviral therapy in patients after liver transplantation. We examined the incidence and severity of liver transplantation rejection in patients treated for HCV, post liver transplantation, with DAAs relative to the incidence and severity of liver transplantation rejection in patients treated for HCV, post liver transplantation, with Interferon based therapy and patients who didn’t receive any treatment for HCV after transplantation. Patients and Methods The study was conducted on 90 patients who had underwent liver transplantation between 2010 and 2017 at Ain Shams Center for Organ Transplantation (ASCOT) with a minimum follow up period of 6 months. Patients were divided into three groups: group I included 16 patients that didn’t receive antiviral treatment after liver transplantation, group II included 20 patients that had received interferon based therapy after liver transplantation and group III included 54 patients that had received direct acting antivirals after liver transplantation. Results Amongst group I, 2 patients (12.5%) developed acute graft rejection while in group II 2 patients (10%) developed chronic graft rejection and in group III 6 patients (11.11%) developed chronic rejection. In group I, all the patients (100%) had developed rejection that was diagnosed within one year of liver transplantation. In group II, 2 patients (100%) developed chronic graft rejection which occurred after one year of liver transplantation, one of them was on treatment with peg interferon and the other had already completed treatment. In group III, 2 patients (40%) had developed chronic rejection within one year of transplantation, while 4 patients (60%) had developed chronic rejection after one year of transplantation. One patient (16.67%) had developed rejection on treatment while 5 patients (83.33%) had developed rejection after the end of treatment. Conclusion It was found that the incidence of chronic rejection was more in patients that had received antiviral treatment after liver transplantation, however no difference was noted between DAAs and peg-interferon. Chronic rejection was found to be more common when treatment was given over one year after liver transplantation (6 cases) as compared to within the 1st year (2 cases). This may be related to the withdrawal of immunosuppression treatment after one year of transplantation and maintenance on monotherapy.