| Institution: | 1. Department of Immunology, Transplant Medicine and Internal Diseases, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland;2. Department of Clinical Nursing, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland;3. Department of Bioinformatics, Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland |
| Abstract: | BackgroundHepatitis C virus (HCV) infection deregulates function of many organs and systems, affecting patient's daily functioning. The results of treatment of HCV infection recurrence after liver transplantation have improved significantly as a result of the introduction of direct-acting antiviral agents (DAA). This study was aimed at prospective assessment of the effect of HCV elimination with DAA on physical performance of liver transplant recipients.MethodsEight women and 21 men, median age 61.3 (range, 20.1–71.5) years, participated in the study. Assessment of serum total bilirubin, alanine and aspartate aminotransferase, muscle strength, body composition, and 6-minute walk test (6MWT) were performed before treatment and 12 weeks after the end of the treatment period.ResultsIn the 6MWT test we observed significant subjective (dyspnea: 58.3% pretreatment vs 27.6% posttreatment, P = .018; fatigue: 96.6% pretreatment vs 51.7% posttreatment, P = .0001) and objective improvement (distance: 415.4 meters pretreatment vs 505.2 meters posttreatment, P < .0000001). We did not observe an increase in muscle mass nor improvement in blood biochemical parameters.ConclusionA significant objective and subjective improvement in physical performance was seen in liver transplant recipients after successful treatment of HCV infection with DAA. |
