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  • Title: Long-term monitoring of platelet count, as a non-invasive marker of hepatic fibrosis progression and/or regression in patients with chronic hepatitis C after interferon therapy.
    Author: Taniguchi H, Iwasaki Y, Fujiwara A, Sakaguchi K, Moriya A, Yu PC, Takaki A, Fujioka S, Shimomura H, Shiratori Y.
    Journal: J Gastroenterol Hepatol; 2006 Jan; 21(1 Pt 2):281-7. PubMed ID: 16460487.
    Abstract:
    BACKGROUND: Platelet count has been shown to correlate with the hepatic fibrosis stage in chronic hepatitis C (CHC). The aim of the present study was to assess hepatic fibrosis progression or regression of CHC patients by long-term monitoring of the platelet count. METHODS: A total of 429 interferon (IFN)-treated CHC patients were studied. Follow-up data on the platelet count were collected every 6 months after IFN therapy. The IFN response was defined as follows: complete responders (CR, n = 121) demonstrating persistent clearance of serum hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA; biochemical responders (BR, n = 94) demonstrating alanine aminotransferase (ALT) normalization for >/=6 months without eradication of HCV-RNA; and non-responder (NR, n = 214) demonstrating all other patterns. RESULTS: In comparison with the baseline level, mean platelet count increased in the CR group from 0.5 years after IFN therapy (for each point, P < 0.01), but significantly decreased in the NR group from 1 year after IFN therapy (for each point, P < 0.01). In the BR group, an increase in mean platelet count was observed from 0.5 to 3.5 years following IFN therapy (for each point, P < 0.01), followed by a gradual decrease. CONCLUSION: An increase from baseline values in platelet count was observed, regardless of the presence of HCV-RNA, in both the CR and BR groups, suggesting the importance of ALT normalization in preventing hepatic fibrosis progression in IFN-treated CHC patients.
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