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

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.