The investigators assessed non-organ-specific antibodies before and 24 weeks after the end of therapy with direct-acting antivirals, in order to better clarify the clinical relevance of these antibodies in terms of treatment response and prognostic value.

To achieve this goal patients with hepatitis C virus related advanced liver disease, with detectable circulating autoantibodies on at least two determinations before treatment, were enrolled.

About 40-70% of hepatitis C virus patients develop at least an autoimmune extra-hepatic disorder presumably due to the interaction between hepatitis C virus E2 envelope protein and B lymphocyte Cluster of Differentiation-81 receptor. In addition, the same interaction is responsible for the production of different serum non-organ-specific antibodies. The clinical significance of the latter phenomenon has not been fully understood except for the presence of liver kidney microsome-1 antibody, which is linked to a molecular mimicry between the cytochrome enzyme CYP2D6, primarily expressed in the liver, and hepatitis C virus proteins in genetically predisposed subjects.

Actually, no data are available about the prevalence and clinical significance of serum non-organ-specific antibodies in hepatitis C virus patients treated with second generation direct-acting antivirals.

Inclusion Criteria:

HCV positive patients Presence of advanced liver fibrosis Eligibility to the treatment with direct-acting antiviral therapy.

Exclusion Criteria:

History of autoimmune hepatitis and/or cholangitis Evidence of active hepatocellular carcinoma Human immunodeficiency virus coinfection Hepatitis B virus coinfection.

Caucasian patients affected by chronic hepatitis C virus infection who were consecutively admitted as outpatients to the Gastroenterology Unit, Policlinic Hospital, Bari, Italy, from July 2015-August 2016 to receive a treatment with second generation direct-acting antivirals.

It depends on the possibility to merge similar data and produce a multicentric study