PLoS ONE (Jan 2023)

Longitudinal assessment of HCV core antigen kinetics to monitor therapeutic response in the age of DAAs.

  • Suresh Ponnuvel,
  • Arul Prakash,
  • Runal John Steve,
  • George Priya Doss,
  • Ashish Goel,
  • Uday George Zachariah,
  • Chundamannil Eapen Eapen,
  • Grace Rebekah,
  • Rajesh Kannangai,
  • Gnanadurai John Fletcher,
  • Priya Abraham

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282013
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 18, no. 2
p. e0282013

Abstract

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BackgroundIn the economy of therapeutic monitoring, an affordable viral marker is essential in the era of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). We elucidated the kinetics of HCVcAg to delineate its precise role in monitoring therapeutic response.MethodsIn this longitudinal study, 3208 patients were tested for HCV RNA. A total of 423 patients were started on DAAs. Treatment response and kinetics of HCVcAg/RNA were assessed in treatment-naïve (n = 383) and previously treated (n = 40) patients with follow-up for 2 years.ResultsAfter the initiation of DAAs, the rate of relapse was significantly higher in the previously treated group than naive group [12.5% (5/40) Vs 2% (7/383), p0.6; p0.05).ConclusionsIt is the first longitudinal study from India shows that the response rate and kinetics of HCVcAg are comparable to HCV RNA for an extended duration, except at RVR, irrespective of the HCV genotypes, treatment regimen, and liver disease severity. Hence, HCVcAg can be considered as a pragmatic marker to monitor therapeutic response and predict relapse in the era of DAAs.