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Clinical outcome of HCV-associated cryoglobulinemic glomerulonephritis following treatment with direct acting antiviral agents: a case-based review

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Abstract

Newer treatment protocols involving direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) have been associated with high rates of sustained virologic response (SVR) and clinical remission in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) associated cryoglobulinemic vasculitis (HCV-CV), but clinical response in those with renal involvement is less clear. Our goal was to evaluate the clinical course following DAA therapy in one of the largest cohorts of patients with HCV-associated cryoglobulinemic glomerulonephritis (HCV-GN) reported to date. This is an observational study of patients with chronic HCV infection and circulating cryoglobulins (CC) treated with DAAs in our department from January 2015 to January 2019. We identified a total of 67 patients with HCV and CC out of which nine patients fulfilled the criteria of HCV-GN and had adequate clinical follow-up time. We describe a cohort of nine patients with a mean age of 57 years and known duration of HCV infection ranging 3–20 years (four with evidence of compensated cirrhosis). All patients received the ritonavir-boosted paritaprevir/ombitasvir/dasabuvir regimen for 12 weeks and achieved SVR without subsequent viral relapse. Following DAAs completion, one patient developed “new-onset” cryoglobulinemic glomerulonephritis, six showed either persistent or worsening glomerulonephritis, and only two patients had a complete clinical response (CCR). Of the six patients with either persistent or worsening CV, 67% received additional immunosuppressive (IS) therapy for uncontrolled CV. Of the two patients that had a CCR, one patient received prior IS therapy while the other one improved without any additional intervention. Newer HCV treatment protocols involving DAAs are highly successful in eradication of HCV infection; however, in our experience, DAA treatment alone is insufficient in improving the renal outcomes of patients with HCV-GN and additional IS therapies should be considered.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nephrology Department, Center for Uronephrology and Kidney Transplantation, Fundeni Clinical Institute, 258 Fundeni Street, District 2, Bucharest, Romania

    Bogdan Obrișcă, Roxana Jurubiță, Bogdan Sorohan, Raluca Bobeică, Andreea Andronesi & Gener Ismail

  2. “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania

    Bogdan Obrișcă, Roxana Jurubiță, Bogdan Sorohan, Laura Iliescu, Cătălin Baston, Andreea Andronesi & Gener Ismail

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, Fundeni Clinical Institute, Bucharest, Romania

    Laura Iliescu

  4. Urology Department, Center for Uronephrology and Kidney Transplantation, Fundeni Clinical Institute, 258 Fundeni Street, District 2, Bucharest, Romania

    Cătălin Baston

  5. Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Nicolae Leca

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  1. Bogdan Obrișcă
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  2. Roxana Jurubiță
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Correspondence to Bogdan Obrișcă.

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The study was conducted after institutional approval (The Ethics Committee of Fundeni Clinical Institute, Registration Number, 23249) aligned with the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki and written consent to participate in the study was provided by all participating patients.

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Obrișcă, B., Jurubiță, R., Sorohan, B. et al. Clinical outcome of HCV-associated cryoglobulinemic glomerulonephritis following treatment with direct acting antiviral agents: a case-based review. Clin Rheumatol 38, 3677–3687 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-019-04625-y

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