Dynamics of cytokines predicts risk of hepatocellular carcinoma among chronic hepatitis C patients after viral eradication

Table 1 Baseline demographics of study subjects

Group	Total	DAA	IFN	P value (DAA vs IFN)
n	100	50	50
Age (yr)	63.8 ± 7.2	64.9 ± 7.9	62.6 ± 6.3	0.100
Sex, n (%)
Female	66 (66.0)	38 (76.0)	28 (56.0)	0.057
Male	34 (34.0)	12 (24.0)	22 (44.0)
HCV genotype, n (%)
1	65 (65.0)	37 (74.0)	28 (56.0)	0.098
2	23 (23.0)	10 (20.0)	13 (26.0)
Mixed	12 (12.0)	3 (6.0)	9 (18.0)
HCV RNA (log IU/mL)	2.47 ± 0.89	2.67 ± 0.84	2.28 ± 0.91	0.027
FIB-4	6.14 ± 3.28	6.55 ± 3.69	5.73 ± 2.80	0.213
AFP (ng/mL)	26.3 ± 56.7	28.8 ± 74.0	23.6 ± 29.3	0.662
Platelet (k/μL)	119.8 ± 34.7	115.2 ± 35.9	124.4 ± 33.2	0.186
AST (IU/L)	136.9 ± 79.9	115.2 ± 64.7	158.7 ± 87.9	0.006
ALT (IU/L)	177.5 ± 138.4	127.9 ± 83.9	227.0 ± 163.2	2.7 × 10-4
γ-GT (IU/L)	67.6 ± 48.8	57.2 ± 42.6	76.7 ± 52.4	0.053
Cholesterol (mg/dL)	161.6 ± 34.8	158.6 ± 37.1	165.2 ± 32.0	0.388
Triglyceride (mg/dL)	97.7 ± 41.4	99.2 ± 40.5	96.0 ± 42.8	0.722
HDL (mg/dL)	47.0 ± 13.3	49.0 ± 11.6	44.1 ± 15.1	0.107
LDL (mg/dL)	90.6 ± 26.4	86.0 ± 24.4	97.2 ± 28.1	0.068
Cr (mg/dL)	0.79 ± 0.24	0.77 ± 0.27	0.82 ± 0.20	0.222
HbA1c (%)	5.8 ± 1.2	5.5 ± 0.7	6.0 ± 1.5	0.016
BMI (kg/m2)	24.4 ± 4.7	24.0 ± 6.0	24.8 ± 2.9	0.381

DAA: Direct-acting antiviral agent; IFN: Interferon; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; FIB-4: Fibrosis-4 index; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein; AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; γ-GT: γ-glutamyltransferase; HDL: High-density lipoprotein; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein; Cr: Creatinine; HbA1c: Hemoglobin A1c; BMI: Body mass index.