Liver Steatosis Highly Prevalent in Children With HCV

January 3, 2007

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Dec 28 - As many as half of children with chronic

hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are likely to develop liver steatosis,

according to a study conducted by Italian and Spanish researchers and

published in the current issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Principal investigator Dr. Guido of the University of Padova, Italy,

and colleagues studied the prevalence and severity of liver steatosis in 21

Italian and 45 Spanish children with HCV.

They found that 18 of 66 children, or 27%, had liver steatosis. Ten of the

21 Italian children and 7 of the 45 Spanish children had the HCV-related

lesion. All but two of the 18 children with steatosis were infected with HCV

genotype 1.

Fibrosis was present in 60 of the 66 children with chronic HCV and liver

steatosis.

BMI was associated with both the presence and the severity of liver

steatosis. BMI and serum triglycerides were also higher in children with the

complication.

Mean BMI for age among children without steatosis was slightly above the

60th percentile, was at the 88th percentile for children with any degree of

steatosis, and was above the 97th percentile for the seven children with

severe steatosis.

Steatosis negatively affects antiviral response in adults, and Dr. Guido's

team concludes that " adjuvant treatments for steatosis should be considered

for children with HCV-related chronic hepatitis and high BMI. "

Editorialists Drs. Nizar N. Zein of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and

H. Poterucha of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, posit that

steatosis may be the missing link to metabolic abnormalities in HCV.

Strategies to minimize liver damage and treatment of hepatic inflammation

associated with HCV infection are already being employed, the editorialists

note. The study indicates that weight loss, insulin sensitization and tumor

necrosis factor-alpha neutralization may also correct HCV-related metabolic

abnormalities and affect liver disease progression.

Am J Gastroenterol 2006;101:2611-2615, 2616-2617.

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