The following is a summary of “Factors associated with pre-treatment hyperferritinemia in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection,” published in the August 2024 issue of Gastroenterology by Chang et al.
Pre-treatment host and viral factors can influence levels of serum ferritin in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to delineate pre-treatment factors associated with hyperferritinemia in patients with HCV infection.
The analysis encompassed 1682 eligible patients who experienced pre-treatment assessment for serum ferritin and other host/viral factors. Intensive univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the aspects related to hyperferritinemia.
The results showed multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that age > 50 years (aOR: 1.38 (95% CI 1.09–1.74), P=0.008), fibrosis stage ≥ F3 (aOR: 1.36 (95% CI 1.04–1.77), P=0.02), fibrosis index based on 4 parameters (FIB-4) > 3.25 (aOR: 1.46 (95% CI 1.11–1.92), P=0.01), presence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) (aOR: 1.43 (95% CI 1.21–1.76), P=0.001), and alanine transaminase (ALT) > 2 folds upper limit of normal (ULN) (aOR: 2.87 (95% CI 2.20–3.75), P<0.001) were associated with hyperferritinemia. The log10 value of HBV or HCV viral load was not linked with the log10 value of ferritin level (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient: − 0.025, P=0.81 and 0.002, P=0.92).
Investigators concluded the host factors, rather than viral factors, were associated with hyperferritinemia in patients with HCV.
Source: nature.com/articles/s41598-024-70233-9
