Abstract

HCV infection is associated with an increased incidence of cardiovascular (CV) events. Mechanisms underlying this association remain unknown. In our study, twenty HCV patients (median age 60.5 years, 65% male and 80% with cirrhosis) were evaluated prior, during and after direct-acting antiviral treatment. Ninety percent of patients achieved sustained virological response (SVR). Significant changes were observed in LDL particle size index, measured by LDL-C/apoB ratio, which increased after treatment (p = 0.023). In addition, HDL antioxidant capacity improved gradually from 34.4% at baseline to 42.4% at 4 weeks (p = 0.011), 65.9% at end of treatment EOT (p = 0.002) and remained elevated at 12-week (p = 0.001) after EOT compared to baseline values. Our findings suggest that a shift to a less atherogenic lipid profile may be a possible mechanism associated with CV risk reduction in patients with HCV infection achieving SVR. (c) 2021 Fundacion Clinica Medica Sur, A.C. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)