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Home > HEPATOLOGY Podcast > Vitamin A Deficiency and Hepatitis C
Podcast: HEPATOLOGY Podcast
Episode:

Vitamin A Deficiency and Hepatitis C
Category: Science & Medicine
Duration: 00:13:35
Publish Date: 2013-04-09 17:32:15
Description: Drs. Stephen A. Harrison and Davide Bitetto Recent data suggest that vitamin A modulates the expression of type I interferon receptor enhancing the antireplication effect of interferon-α on hepatitis C virus (HCV). This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency among patients with chronic HCV infection and to assess whether vitamin A deficiency could be associated with unresponsiveness to interferon-based antiviral therapy. The analysis included 199 consecutive treatment-naïve chronic HCV patients in whom pretreatment serum vitamin A and 25-OH vitamin D were measured; 119 healthy blood donors were used as controls. Median (interquartile range) serum vitamin A in HCV-positive patients was significantly lower than in controls: 256 ng/mL (128-440) versus 742 (624-942, P 60 IU/mL, of HCV RNA >600,000 IU/mL, of vitamin A ≤100 ng/mL, and a cumulative dose of ribavirin ≤80%. Seventeen patients (9.0%) had both serum levels of vitamin A ≤100 ng/mL and of vitamin D ≤20 ng/mL; the presence of a combined vitamin A and D deficiency was found to be a strong independent predictor of nonresponse to antiviral therapy. Conclusion: A high percentage of patients with chronic HCV infection have serum vitamin A deficiency. This condition is associated with nonresponse to antiviral therapy. (HEPATOLOGY 2013)
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