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Is there a connection between neurocognitive profile in treatment naïve non-cirrhotic HCV patients and level of systemic inflammation?

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Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a progressive, systemic disease which leads to the development of end-stage liver disease. In 70% of patients, HCV infection is followed by the development of extrahepatic manifestations (EHM). A common EHM is HCV associated neurocognitive disorder (HCV-AND), characterized by neuropsychological changes in attention, working memory, psychomotor speed, executive function, verbal learning, and recall. The aim of this study is to examine the correlation between the neurocognitive profile and routine, available laboratory parameters of inflammation, liver function tests, grade of liver fibrosis, and clinical and laboratory parameters of mixed cryoglobulinemia in treatment naïve non-cirrhotic HCV patients. This is a single-center exploratory study in which we examined 38 HCV + treatment naïve patients. The complete blood count and hematological parameters of systemic inflammation, liver function tests, biopsy confirmed grade of liver fibrosis, and clinical and laboratory parameters of mixed cryoglobulinemia caused by chronic HCV infection were observed. In the study, we used a battery of neuropsychological tests assessing multiple cognitive domains: executive functions, verbal fluency, delayed memory, working memory and learning, and one measure for visuo-constructive performance. Before the Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons, the results show significant correlations between the scores in the neurocognitive variables and the single measures of inflammation, liver function parameters, and mixed cryoglobulinemia. It has not found a statistically significant correlation between systemic inflammation and neurocognitive variables. After the Bonferroni adjustment, no correlations remained significant. Certainly, the obtained results can be a recommendation for additional validation through future research.

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Data availability

All the data that support the findings of this study is available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Clinic for Infectious Diseases, University Clinical Centre of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia

    Maja Ružić, Natalija Rajić & Maria Pete

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychology, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia

    Željka Nikolašević & Vojislava Bugarski Ignjatović

  3. Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Center for Radiology, University Clinical Centre of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia

    Aleksandar Spasić

  4. Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Neurology Clinic, University Clinical Centre of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia

    Vojislava Bugarski Ignjatović

Authors
  1. Maja Ružić
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  2. Natalija Rajić
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  3. Željka Nikolašević
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  4. Aleksandar Spasić
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  5. Maria Pete
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  6. Vojislava Bugarski Ignjatović
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Contributions

Ružić contributed to the conception and design of the study and recruitment of patients. Ružić, Rajić and Nikolašević organised the database. Nikolašević and Bugarski Ignjatović performed the statistical analysis. Spasić and Bugarski Ignjatović excluded patients with neurologic or psychiatric comorbidities. Ružić wrote the first draft. Ružić, Nikolašević and Bugarski Ignjatović wrote sections of the manuscript. All authors approved the submitted version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Maja Ružić.

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Conflict of interest

All the authors (Maja Ružić, Natalija Rajić, Željka Nikolašević, Aleksandar Spasić, Maria Pete, Vojislava Bugarski Ignjatović) declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Ružić, M., Rajić, N., Nikolašević, Ž. et al. Is there a connection between neurocognitive profile in treatment naïve non-cirrhotic HCV patients and level of systemic inflammation?. J. Neurovirol. 29, 723–730 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13365-023-01184-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13365-023-01184-6

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