Outcomes assessment of hepatitis C virus-positive psoriatic patients treated using pegylated interferon in combination with ribavirin compared to new Direct-Acting Antiviral agents

Table 1 Levels of sIL-2R, ALT, and HBV DNA in the sera of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection (mean ± SD)

	DAA-group	P/R-group
Age, yr, mean ± SD	56.7 ± 8.9	58.2 ± 6.7
Male/female, n (%)	18/9 (66.7/33.3)	24/8 (75/25)
BMI, mean ± SD, kg/m2	24.3 ± 2.41	25 ± 1.86
Psoriasis duration, yr, mean ± SD	21.5 ± 8.6	18 ± 6.7
Current biological therapy, n (%)
Etanercept	12 (44.4)	15 (46.9)
Adalimumab	9 (33.3)	10 (31.3)
Infliximab	-	-
Ustekinumab	5 (18.5)	7 (21.9)
Secukinumab	1(3.7)	-
Shifted biological drugs, mean ± SD	1.2 ± 0.3	1.5 ± 0.5
Psoriatic arthritis, n (%)	2 (7.4)	3 (9.4)
HCV
Genotype, n (%)
1	21 (77.8)	29 (90.6)
2	5 (18.5)	1 (3.1)
3	-	2 (6.3)
4	1 (3.7)	-
5/6	-	-
MELD score	9.3 ± 2.5	6,5 ± 0.8
HCV viral load (T0), IU/mL, mean ± SD	6.2 log10 ± 5.7 log10	6.1 log10 ± 6.0 log10
SVR, n (%)	27/27 (100)	12/32 (37.5)
Autoimmune comorbidities, n (%)
Rheumatic arthritis	1 (3.7)	-
Ankylosing spondylitis	-	1 (3.1)
Systemic erythematosus lupus	1 (3.7)	-
Other comorbidities, n (%)
Cardiovascular disease	6 (22.2)	3 (9.4)
Metabolic syndrome	2 (7.4)	1 (3.1)
COPD	5 (18.5)	2 (6.3)
Renal insufficiency	0 (0)	0 (0)
HBV	1 (3.7)	1 (3.1)
	0 (0)	0 (0)

Categorical variables are expressed as n (%). Numeric variables are expressed as median and SD. BMI: Body mass index; COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; DAA: New Direct-Acting Antiviral agent; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; P/R: Pegylated interferon-2α plus ribavirin; MELD: Model for end-stage liver disease; SVR: Sustained virological response.

Table 2 Levels of sIL-2R, ALT, and HBV DNA in the sera of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection (mean ± SD)

	DAA-group	P/R-group	P value
PASI (T0), mean ± SD	11.6 ± 5.2	9.4 ± 3.5	-
PASI (T1), mean ± SD	5.2 ± 1.6	8.3 ± 4.5	< 0.005
Biological treatment shifts, n (%)	-	8 (25)	< 0.001
Topical treatments (T0), n (%)	27 (100)	32 (100)	-
Topical treatments (T1), n (%)	27 (100)	32 (100)	-
DLQI (T0), mean ± SD	13 ± 2.3	12 ± 3.1	-
DLQI (T1), mean ± SD	4.2 ± 2.3	11 ± 2.3	< 0.001
HCV treatment details, n (%)	Sofosbuvir + daclatasvir: 25 (92.6)	Pegylated interferon-2α + ribavirin	-
	Sofosbuvir + simeprevir + ribavirin: 1 (3.7)	32 (100)
	Sofosbuvir + ribavirin: 1 (3.7)
Laboratory tests, mean ± SD
T0
ALT	45.6 ± 16.5	43 ± 9.2	-
AST	54.6 ± 5.51	52.4 ± 12.5	-
GGT	42.0 ± 13.59	43.3 ± 14.6	-
T1
ALT	42.21 ± 12.4	43 ± 8.5	-
AST	51.3 ± 4.2	51.9 ± 8.9	-
GGT	40.8 ± 12.2	42.9 ± 14.1	-
Dropout HCV-treatment, n (%)	0/27 (0)	9/32 (28.1)	< 0.005
SVR, n (%)	27/27 (100)	12/32 (37.5)	< 0.005

Categorical variables are expressed as n (%), and compared by χ² or Fisher’s exact test. Numeric variables are expressed as median and SD, and compared by Mann–Whitney or Kruskall–Wallis tests. Statistical significance was considered as a P-value of < 0.05. DAA: New Direct-Acting Antiviral Agent; P/R: Pegylated interferon-2α plus ribavirin; PASI: Psoriasis Area Severity Index; T0: Baseline time (before starting the hepatitis C eradication treatment); T1: Six months after the end of hepatitis C eradication treatment; DLQI: Dermatology Quality of Life Index; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; SVR: Sustained virological response; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; GGT: Gamma-glutamyl transferase.