Treatmentforhepatitis C virus genotype 3 infection

In the European countries, including Russia, hepatitis C virus genotype 3 (HCV-3) infection accounts for 20–30% of all HCV infection, second only to HCV-1 infection. Intheinterferon era HCV-3 was not considered as a difficult to treat virus, since an average rate of response to antiviral treatment was relatively high. However, efficacy of pegylated interferon-α and rivabirin was significantly lower in the certain subgroups of patients, particularly with liver cirrhosis. Moreover, HCV-3 infection is associated with a more frequent development of steatosis and accelerated progression of liver disease. Resistance of HCV-3 to many new direct-acting antivirals prevented implementation of all oral, interferon free regimens of treatment for HCV-3 infection. Sofosbuvir and daclatasvir were the first antiviral drugs with high activity against all HCV genotypes, including HCV-3. In the current guidelines, daclatasvir and sofosbuvir ± ribavirin are recommended as a first line treatment for chronic hepatitis C in patients with HCV-3.

Key words

Chronic hepatitis C, genotype 3, sofosbuvir, daclatasvir, velpatasvir.