Post‐to Pretreatment Ratio of Serum CXCL10 Level Predicts Short‐Term Liver Function Outcome in Compensated and Decompensated Cirrhotic Patients Due to Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection After Direct‐Acting Antiviral Therapy

AIM: The prognostic value of serum C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10) levels for liver function was investigated in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients with compensated or decompensated cirrhosis (cLC and dLC, respectively) following treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). METHODS: In this nationwide study involving multiple centers, 164 HCV-related liver cirrhosis patients (95 with cLC and 69 with dLC), who underwent treatment with DAAs, were analyzed. Serum levels of CXCL10 were assessed at the baseline (pre-CXCL10) and at 12 or 24 weeks after the end of therapy (post-CXCL10). Associations between CXCL10 levels and liver function after DAA therapy were evaluated. RESULTS: Of the 164 study patients, the albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade was reduced to Grade 1 in 85 patients at one year after end of therapy (EOT1Y). Serum CXCL10 ratios (post-CXCL10/pre-CXCL10 levels) were significantly lower in ALBI Grade 1 patients than the others (p = 0.014) at EOT1Y. Receiver operating curve analysis for distinguishing ALBI Grade 1 at EOT1Y demonstrated that the area under the curve was 0.611, with an optimal cutoff value of 0.504. Multivariate analysis revealed that body mass index (BMI; odds ratio [OR] 0.816; p < 0.001), absence of ascites (OR 3.340; p = 0.003), FIB-4 index (OR 0.872; p = 0.026), and serum CXCL10 ratios < 0.504 (OR 2.630; p = 0.010) were independently correlated to ALBI Grade 1 at EOT1Y. CONCLUSIONS: The post-to pretreatment serum CXCL10 ratio was independently associated with short-term liver function outcome following HCV eradication in cirrhotic patients. REGISTRY AND REGISTRATION NOS: This study was registered to the University Hospital Medical Information Network (36,150).