Efficacy and Safety of Direct-Acting Antivirals in Patients with Hepatitis C Infection: Nationwide Real-life Data from Türkiye

Background/Aims: Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection constitutes a substantial healthcare concern in Türkiye. The clinical application of direct-acting antiviral medications (DAAs) has transformed its management. The goal is to assess the efficacy and safety of DAAs in the real-world setting in Turkish patients with chronic HCV. Materials and Methods: Thirty-seven centers from Türkiye recorded 1807 patients to the database. Patients aged >18 years were enrolled to the study. Their demographics, clinical information, DAAs used, efficacy, and safety information were evaluated. Efficacy and safety results were reported for patients with 12-week post-treatment (SVR12) data. Results: Among the patients, 919 (50.9%) were female with a mean of age 56 ± 15 years (range:18-97 years) and 238 (13%) were cirrhotic. Liver biopsy was performed in 296 patients. Mean histologic activity index score was 7.68 and fibrosis score was 2.58. Baseline mean viral load was 4.11×106 copies/mL. Patients received the following treatments: Paritaprevir+Ritonavir+Ombitasvir+Dasabuvir (PrOD):706, Ledipasvir+Sofosbuvir:490, Sofosbuvir+Ribavirin:176, PrOD+Ribavirin:175, Ledipasvir+Sofosbuvir+Ribavirin:156, PrO+Ribavirin:32, and PrO:10. Response at the end of treatment was 99.2% (1454/1465) and SVR12 was 97.8% (1289/1318). The DAAs were generally well tolerated. Ten and 13 patients discontinued therapy because of drug-related and unrelated adverse side effects, respectively. Conclusion: This real-world study demonstrated that DAA treatment for HCV is both safe and highly effective. In two-thirds of the patients, the hepatic inflammation is moderate to severe, and fibrosis is moderate to advanced in half of them. Patients' characteristics suggest that HCV infection is often not diagnosed or treated until patients present with moderate-to-severe stage, indicating that diagnostic and therapeutic approaches should be used more effectively.

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Journal
The Turkish Journal of Gastroenterology
Published
2026-04-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5152/tjg.2026.25287
Primary Topic
Hepatitis C virus research
Type
article
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article

Efficacy and Safety of Direct-Acting Antivirals in Patients with Hepatitis C Infection: Nationwide Real-life Data from Türkiye

Fazılet Duygu, Ebubekir Şenateş, Esra Yerlikaya Zerdali, Mahmut Sünnetçioğlu et al.
The Turkish Journal of Gastroenterology
Hepatitis C virus research
article

Efficacy and Safety of Direct-Acting Antivirals in Patients with Hepatitis C Infection: Nationwide Real-life Data from Türkiye

Fazılet Duygu, Ebubekir Şenateş, Esra Yerlikaya Zerdali, Mahmut Sünnetçioğlu, Yusuf Önlen, Ayhan Akbulut, Kenan Hızel, Tayibe Bal, Nurcan Baykam, Behice Kurtaran, Mustafa Namıduru, Sibel Kaya, Alper Gündüz, Esragül Akıncı, Tansu Yamazhan, İftihar Köksal, Şener Barut, Süheyla Kömür, Nurettin Erben, Ülkü User, Hasan Karsen, Nagehan Didem Sarı, Fehmı Tabak, N. Oztoprak, Nevin İnce, Ayşe Batırel, Şükran Köse, Rıdvan Karaali, Güven Çelebi, Kamuran Türker, Dilara İnan, Fatma Sırmatel, Hayat Kumbasar Karaosmanoğlu, Figen Sarıgül Yıldırım, İlknur Esen Yıldız, H Cem Gül, Şaban Esen, Güray Can, Özgür Günal, Gülşen Yörük, Oğuz Karabay, Rahmet Guner, Selma TOSUN
article en

Abstract

Background/Aims: Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection constitutes a substantial healthcare concern in Türkiye. The clinical application of direct-acting antiviral medications (DAAs) has transformed its management. The goal is to assess the efficacy and safety of DAAs in the real-world setting in Turkish patients with chronic HCV. Materials and Methods: Thirty-seven centers from Türkiye recorded 1807 patients to the database. Patients aged >18 years were enrolled to the study. Their demographics, clinical information, DAAs used, efficacy, and safety information were evaluated. Efficacy and safety results were reported for patients with 12-week post-treatment (SVR12) data. Results: Among the patients, 919 (50.9%) were female with a mean of age 56 ± 15 years (range:18-97 years) and 238 (13%) were cirrhotic. Liver biopsy was performed in 296 patients. Mean histologic activity index score was 7.68 and fibrosis score was 2.58. Baseline mean viral load was 4.11×106 copies/mL. Patients received the following treatments: Paritaprevir+Ritonavir+Ombitasvir+Dasabuvir (PrOD):706, Ledipasvir+Sofosbuvir:490, Sofosbuvir+Ribavirin:176, PrOD+Ribavirin:175, Ledipasvir+Sofosbuvir+Ribavirin:156, PrO+Ribavirin:32, and PrO:10. Response at the end of treatment was 99.2% (1454/1465) and SVR12 was 97.8% (1289/1318). The DAAs were generally well tolerated. Ten and 13 patients discontinued therapy because of drug-related and unrelated adverse side effects, respectively. Conclusion: This real-world study demonstrated that DAA treatment for HCV is both safe and highly effective. In two-thirds of the patients, the hepatic inflammation is moderate to severe, and fibrosis is moderate to advanced in half of them. Patients' characteristics suggest that HCV infection is often not diagnosed or treated until patients present with moderate-to-severe stage, indicating that diagnostic and therapeutic approaches should be used more effectively.

The Turkish Journal of Gastroenterology
Sakarya University (TR), Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi (TR), Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi (TR), Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University (TR), Ministry of Health (TR), Ankara University (TR), University of Turku (FI), Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University (TR), Karadeniz Technical University (TR), Akdeniz University (TR), Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa Üniversitesi (TR), Hitit Üniversitesi (TR), Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University (TR), Ege University (TR), Gülhane Askerî Tıp Akademisi (TR), Ankara Numune Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi (TR), Haseki Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi (TR), Ankara Onkoloji Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi (TR), Antalya Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi (TR), Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa (TR), Samsun University (TR), Bakırköy Dr.Sadi Konuk Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi (TR), Education Training And Research (US), Izmir Tepecik Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi (TR), Izmir Bozyaka Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi (TR), Şişli Etfal Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi (TR), Mustafa Kemal University (TR), Eskişehir Osmangazi University (TR), Düzce Üniversitesi (TR), Cukurova University (TR), Istanbul Medeniyet University (TR), Gaziantep University (TR), Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University (TR), Harran University (TR), Gazi University (TR)
Gilead Sciences
Good health and well-being
Openalex Percentile: Top 34%
Hepatitis C virus research
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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