Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 21, 2015; 21(35): 10215-10223
Published online Sep 21, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i35.10215
Changes of shear-wave velocity by interferon-based therapy in chronic hepatitis C
Keisuke Osakabe, Naohiro Ichino, Toru Nishikawa, Hiroko Sugiyama, Miho Kato, Ai Shibata, Wakana Asada, Naoto Kawabe, Senju Hashimoto, Michihito Murao, Takuji Nakano, Hiroaki Shimazaki, Toshiki Kan, Kazunori Nakaoka, Yuka Takagawa, Masashi Ohki, Takamitsu Kurashita, Tomoki Takamura, Kentaro Yoshioka
Keisuke Osakabe, Naohiro Ichino, Faculty of Medical Technology, School of Health Sciences, Fujita Health University, Kutsukake, Toyoake, Aichi 470-1192, Japan
Toru Nishikawa, Hiroko Sugiyama, Miho Kato, Ai Shibata, Wakana Asada, Center of Ultrasound Diagnosis, Fujita Health University Hospital, 1-98 Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake, Toyoake, Aichi 470-1192, Japan
Naoto Kawabe, Senju Hashimoto, Michihito Murao, Takuji Nakano, Hiroaki Shimazaki, Toshiki Kan, Kazunori Nakaoka, Yuka Takagawa, Masashi Ohki, Takamitsu Kurashita, Tomoki Takamura, Kentaro Yoshioka, Department of Liver, Biliary Tract and Pancreas Diseases, Fujita Health University, 1-98 Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake, Toyoake, Aichi 470-1192, Japan
Author contributions: Osakabe K, Kawabe N and Yoshioka K contributed to this work; Osakabe K, Kawabe N and Yoshioka K designed the research; Osakabe K, Kawabe N, Hashimoto S, Murao M, Nakano T, Sugiyama H, Shimazaki H, Kan T, Nakaoka K, Ohki M, Takagawa Y, Kurashita T and Takamura T performed the research; Osakabe K, Ichino N, Nishikawa T, Sugiyama H, Kato M, Shibata A and Asada W collected and analyzed the data; Osakabe K wrote the paper; and Yoshioka K contributed to discussion.
Supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 2490711; and (in part) MEXT-Supported Program for the Strategic Research Foundation at Private Universities of the Japanese government and by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of the Japanese government.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Fujita Health University Institutional Review Board.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Keisuke Osakabe has received research funding from JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 2490711. Prof. Kentaro Yoshioka has received research funding from MEXT-Supported Program for the Strategic Research Foundation at Private Universities of the Japanese government and by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of the Japanese government.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Kentaro Yoshioka, MD, Department of Liver, Biliary Tract and Pancreas Diseases, Fujita Health University, 1-98 Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake, Toyoake, Aichi 470-1192, Japan. kyoshiok@fujita-hu.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-562-932324 Fax: +81-562-938601
Received: March 31, 2015
Peer-review started: April 1, 2015
First decision: May 18, 2015
Revised: June 3, 2015
Accepted: July 18, 2015
Article in press: July 18, 2015
Published online: September 21, 2015
Abstract

AIM: To evaluate the changes of shear-wave velocity (Vs) by acoustic radiation force impulse after treatment in chronic hepatitis C.

METHODS: Eighty-seven patients with chronic hepatitis C were consecutively treated with combinations of interferon (IFN) plus ribavirin (RBV). Vs value (m/s) was measured with acoustic radiation force impulse before treatment, at end of treatment (EOT), 1 year after EOT, and 2 years after EOT.

RESULTS: In patients with a sustained virological response (SVR) (n = 41), Vs significantly decreased at EOT [1.19 (1.07-1.37), P = 0.0004], 1 year after EOT [1.10 (1.00-1.22), P = 0.0001], and 2 years after EOT [1.05 (0.95-1.16), P < 0.0001] compared with baseline [1.27 (1.11-1.49)]. In patients with a relapse (n = 26), Vs did not significantly decrease at EOT [1.23 (1.12-1.55)], 1 year after EOT [1.20 (1.12-1.80)], and 2 years after EOT [1.41 (1.08-2.01)] compared with baseline [1.39 (1.15-1.57)]. In patients with a nonvirological response (n = 20), Vs did not significantly decrease at EOT [1.64 (1.43-2.06)], 1 year after EOT [1.66 (1.30-1.95)], and 2 years after EOT [1.61 (1.36-2.37)] compared with baseline [1.80 (1.54-2.01)]. Among genotype 1 patients, baseline Vs was significantly lower in SVR patients [1.28 (1.04-1.40)] than in non-SVR patients [1.56 (1.20-1.83)] (P = 0.0142).

CONCLUSION: Reduction of Vs values was shown in SVR patients after IFN-plus-RBV therapy by acoustic radiation force impulse.

Keywords: Hepatitis C virus, Fibrosis, Interferon and ribavirin, Liver stiffness, Shear-wave velocity

Core tip: The estimation of the stage of liver fibrosis is important for the prediction of hepatitis outcome, response to treatment, and evaluation of treatment outcomes in patients with chronic liver disease. Methods for noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis have been developed. Shear-wave velocity (Vs) measured by acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) correlate with liver fibrosis stages in various liver diseases. To evaluate Vs value changes measured by ARFI after interferon (IFN) plus ribavirin (RBV) in chronic hepatitis C patients. Reduction of Vs values was shown in sustained virological response patients after IFN-plus-RBV therapy by ARFI.