Abstract
Almost 71 million people are infected globally with HCV including 10 million people in Pakistan. Sofosbuvir (SOF) and Daclatasvir (DCV) are the currently used against HCV. In the undertaken study, response of HCV to SOF and DCV therapy and its molecular typing among suspected patients was performed. A total of 1285 patients were enrolled in the study. Blood samples were collected and processed for Real-Time Reverse Transcription-PCR and genotyping assay.
Among the 1285 suspected HCV patients, 504 (39.221%) were HCV positive and 781 (60.778%) were HCV negative. Biochemical markers; ALT, AST, albumin and bilirubin of HCV infected patients and non infected patients were investigated and the mean +/- SD value in HCV infected individuals were increased for ALT, AST, albumin and bilirubin. The mean value in HCV negative patients were recorded as ALT (35 +/- 10), AST (32 +/- 8), bilirubin (0.8 +/- 0.3) and albumin (3.5 +/- 0.4). Among 504 HCV infected patients 496 patients (98.41%) achieved ETR however 8 (1.59%) patients were resistant to therapy. Among the 8 patients, 5 (62.5%) patients achieved SVR while 3 (37.5%) patients showed resistant to therapy. In SVR negative patients (n=3), 1 (33.3%) patient was detected as HCV genotype 3a while HCV un-typeable genotype was detected in 2 (66.6%) patients. Resistance to antiviral therapy was observed predominantly among 3a and un-typeable HCV genotypes. Findings of the study will be helpful to devise an appropriate treatment strategy in HCV infection.