Impact of common risk factors of fibrosis progression in chronic hepatitis C.

OBJECTIVE: The natural course of chronic hepatitis C varies widely. To improve the profiling of patients at risk of developing advanced liver disease, we assessed the relative contribution of factors for liver fibrosis progression in hepatitis C. DESIGN: We analysed 1461 patients with chronic hepatitis C with an estimated date of infection and at least one liver biopsy. Risk factors for accelerated fibrosis progression rate (FPR), defined as ≥ 0.13 Metavir fibrosis units per year, were identified by logistic regression. Examined factors included age at infection, sex, route of infection, HCV genotype, body mass index (BMI), significant alcohol drinking (≥ 20 g/day for ≥ 5 years), HIV coinfection and diabetes. In a subgroup of 575 patients, we assessed the impact of single nucleotide polymorphisms previously associated with fibrosis progression in genome-wide association studies. Results were expressed as attributable fraction (AF) of risk for accelerated FPR. RESULTS: Age at infection (AF 28.7%), sex (AF 8.2%), route of infection (AF 16.5%) and HCV genotype (AF 7.9%) contributed to accelerated FPR in the Swiss Hepatitis C Cohort Study, whereas significant alcohol drinking, anti-HIV, diabetes and BMI did not. In genotyped patients, variants at rs9380516 (TULP1), rs738409 (PNPLA3), rs4374383 (MERTK) (AF 19.2%) and rs910049 (major histocompatibility complex region) significantly added to the risk of accelerated FPR. Results were replicated in three additional independent cohorts, and a meta-analysis confirmed the role of age at infection, sex, route of infection, HCV genotype, rs738409, rs4374383 and rs910049 in accelerating FPR. CONCLUSIONS: Most factors accelerating liver fibrosis progression in chronic hepatitis C are unmodifiable.

Human genomics of the humoral immune response against polyomaviruses.

Human polyomaviruses are widespread in humans and can cause severe disease in immunocompromised individuals. To identify human genetic determinants of the humoral immune response against polyomaviruses, we performed genome-wide association studies and meta-analyses of qualitative and quantitative immunoglobulin G responses against BK polyomavirus (BKPyV), JC polyomavirus (JCPyV), Merkel cellpolyomavirus (MCPyV), WU polyomavirus (WUPyV), and human polyomavirus 6 (HPyV6) in 15,660 individuals of European ancestry from three independent studies. We observed significant associations for all tested viruses: JCPyV, HPyV6, and MCPyV associated with human leukocyte antigen class II variation, BKPyV and JCPyV with variants in FUT2, responsible for secretor status, MCPyV with variants in STING1, involved in interferon induction, and WUPyV with a functional variant in MUC1, previously associated with risk for gastric cancer. These results provide insights into the genetic control of a family of very prevalent human viruses, highlighting genes and pathways that play a modulating role in human humoral immunity.

Weight Loss Directly Influences Intermediate-Term Remission of Diabetes Mellitus After Bariatric Surgery: A Retrospective Case-Control Study.

PURPOSE: Roux en Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB) is an effective therapy for patients with severe obesity. It induces both significant weight loss and rapid improvements of metabolic complications. This study was undertaken to better define the direct role of weight loss in the metabolic improvements. METHODS: A retrospective, case-control study of a cohort of 649 patients with obesity who underwent RYGB, comparing higher and lower responders at 2 years after surgery (n = 100 pairs). Pairs of patients were matched for age, gender, and initial BMI. The rates of remission of diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and hyperuricemia were compared using a mixed effects logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Diabetes before surgery was present in 12/100 lower responders and 17/100 higher responders. Remission at 2 years was observed in 4/12 (33%) of lower responders, compared to 15/17 (88%) of higher responders. Thus, the odds of diabetes remission was significantly smaller in lower responders (OR = 0.067, 95% CI 0.01-0.447). A mixed model regression analysis of all the parameters for each patient showed that the odds of achieving remission of any comorbidity was significantly lower in lower responders (OR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.39-0.97). CONCLUSION: We could demonstrate that weight loss is a significant determinant of the remission of diabetes 2 years after RYGB. These data underline the importance of weight loss in the benefits of this procedure.