Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major public health issue because infection may lead to liver failure, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. In patients with renal dysfunction, hepatitis C can also worsen the underlying renal disease. Treating HCV infection is thus mandatory in this population. New therapies for hepatitis C have recently been developed, and some have been launched. Most of them are used in combination with the current standard of care, ribavirin and pegylated interferon alfa. Some of them can be used in regimens without ribavirin and/or pegylated interferon. However, few data are available on dosage adjustment for renal function in patients receiving these very new drugs. We reviewed the literature on this subject and gathered information, although scarce, to propose guidelines for using these drugs in patients with chronic kidney disease.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Kamar N, Alric L, Izopet J, Rostaing L. Hepatitis C virus and kidney disease. Clin Res Hepatol Gastroenterol. 2013;37:328–33.
Vallet-Pichard A, Pol S. Hepatitis C virus infection in hemodialysis patients. Clin Res Hepatol Gastroenterol. 2013;37:340–6.
Goodkin DA, Bragg-Gresham JL, Koenig KG, et al. Association of comorbid conditions and mortality in hemodialysis patients in Europe, Japan, and the United States: the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS). J Am Soc Nephrol. 2003;14:3270–7.
Brennan BJ, Wang K, Blotner S, et al. Safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of ribavirin in hepatitis C virus-infected patients with various degrees of renal impairment. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2013;57:6097–105.
Tseng P-L, Chen T-C, Chien Y-S, et al. Efficacy and safety of pegylated interferon alfa-2b and ribavirin combination therapy versus pegylated interferon monotherapy in hemodialysis patients: a comparison of 2 sequentially treated cohorts. Am J Kidney Dis. 2013;62:789–95.
Yee HS, Chang MF, Pocha C, et al. Update on the management and treatment of hepatitis C virus infection: recommendations from the Department of Veterans Affairs Hepatitis C Resource Center Program and the National Hepatitis C Program Office. Am J Gastroenterol. 2012;107:669–89 (quiz 690).
Wendt A, Adhoute X, Castellani P, et al. Chronic hepatitis C: future treatment. Clin Pharmacol Adv Appl. 2014;6:1–17.
Charlton M. Telaprevir, boceprevir, cytochrome P450 and immunosuppressive agents—a potentially lethal cocktail. Hepatology. 2011;54:3–5.
Van Heeswijk R. The effect of severe renal impairment on the pharmacokinetics of the investigational HCV protease inhibitor telaprevir. Available at http://download.journals.elsevierhealth.com/pdfs/journals/0168-8278/PIIS0168827811612476.pdf. Accessed 25 Feb 2014.
Garg V, Kauffman RS, Beaumont M, van Heeswijk RPG. Telaprevir: pharmacokinetics and drug interactions. Antivir Ther. 2012;17:1211–21.
Dumortier J, Guillaud O, Gagnieu M-C, et al. Anti-viral triple therapy with telaprevir in haemodialysed HCV patients: is it feasible? J Clin Virol. 2013;56:146–9.
Basu PP, Siriki R, Shah NJ, et al. Telaprevir with adjusted dose of ribavirin in naïve CHC-G1: efficacy and treatment in CHC in hemodialysis population. In: TARGET C (RCT) 48th annual meeting of the european association for the study of the liver, April 24–28, 2013. Amsterdam, Netherlands; 2013. Abstract 67.
Garg V, van Heeswijk R, Lee JE, Alves K, Nadkarni P, Luo X. Effect of telaprevir on the pharmacokinetics of cyclosporine and tacrolimus. Hepatology. 2011;54:20–7.
Treitel M, Marbury T, Preston RA, et al. Single-dose pharmacokinetics of boceprevir in subjects with impaired hepatic or renal function. Clin Pharmacokinet. 2012;51:619–28.
Mauss S, Hueppe D, Alshuth U. Renal impairment is frequent in chronic hepatitis C patients under triple therapy with telaprevir or boceprevir. Hepatology. 2014;59:46–8.
Loustaud-Ratti V, Carrier P, Vong C, Essig M. Renal impairment is frequent in chronic hepatitis C patients under triple therapy with telaprevir or boceprevir. Hepatology 2014;59(6):2426.
Liang TJ, Ghany MG. Current and future therapies for hepatitis C virus infection. N Engl J Med. 2013;368:1907–17.
Clark VC, Peter JA, Nelson DR. New therapeutic strategies in HCV: second-generation protease inhibitors. Liver Int. 2013;33(Suppl 1):80–4.
Eley T, He B, Chang I, et al. The effect of hepatic impairment on the pharmacokinetics of asunaprevir, an HCV NS3 protease inhibitor. Antivir Ther. 2014. doi:10.3851/IMP2773.
Garimella T, He B, Luo W-L, et al. Asunaprevir pharmacokinetics and safety in subjects with impaired renal function. In: 64th annual meeting of the american association for the study of liver diseases Nov 1–5, 2013. Washington, DC; 2013. Abstract.
Cornpropst M, Denning J, Clemons D, et al. The effect of renal impairment and end stage renal disease on the single-dose pharmacokinetics of PSI-7977. In: 47th annual meeting of the european association for the study of the liver (EASL), April 18–22, 2012. Barcelona, Spain; 2012. Abstract 1101.
Herbst DA Jr, Reddy KR. Sofosbuvir, a nucleotide polymerase inhibitor, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Expert Opin Invest Drugs. 2013;22:527–36.
Clinical trials.gov. Sofosbuvir plus ribavirin in subjects with HCV infection and renal insufficiency. Available at http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01958281. Accessed 28 Feb 2014.
Clinical trials.gov. Pharmacokinetic and safety study of daclatasvir in patients with renal impairment. Available at http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01830205?term=daclatasvir+and+kidney&rank=1. Accessed 28 Feb 2014.
Garimella T, Wang R, Luo W-L, et al. The effect of renal impairment on single-dose pharmacokinetics of daclatasvir, an HCV NS5A inhibitor. Presented at 15th International Workshop on Clinical Pharmacology of HIV and Hepatitis Therapy, Washington DC, 19–21 May 2014. Available at http://www.natap.org/2014/Pharm/Pharm_18.htm. Accessed 10 July 2014.
Gentile I, Buonomo AR, Borgia F, Castaldo G, Borgia G. Ledipasvir: a novel synthetic antiviral for the treatment of HCV infection. Expert Opin Invest Drugs. 2014;23:561–71.
Afdhal N, Reddy KR, Nelson DR, et al. Ledipasvir and sofosbuvir for previously treated HCV genotype 1 infection. N Engl J Med. 2014;370:1483–93.
Afdhal N, Zeuzem S, Kwo P, et al. Ledipasvir and sofosbuvir for untreated HCV genotype 1 infection. N Engl J Med. 2014;370:1889–98.
Kowdley KV, Gordon SC, Reddy KR, et al. Ledipasvir and sofosbuvir for 8 or 12 weeks for chronic HCV without cirrhosis. N Engl J Med. 2014;370:1879–88.
Acknowledgments
Service ICAR is funded by unrestricted educational grants from Gilead, Roche, Daiichi Sankyo, Vifor Pharma, Ipsen and Teva. Sarah Zimner-Rapuch has received no funding that is relevant to the content of this article. Nicolas Janus has received consulting fees from Roche and Fresenius Medical Care. Gilbert Deray has received an honorarium from Gilead. Vincent Launay-Vacher has received consulting fees from Gilead, Vifor, Roche, Sanofi and Pfizer. The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zimner-Rapuch, S., Janus, N., Deray, G. et al. New Therapies for Hepatitis C: Considerations in Patients with Renal Impairment. Drugs 74, 1307–1313 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40265-014-0268-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40265-014-0268-7