Predictors of Changes in Hemoglobin Levels in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Treated with Ribavirin Plus Pegylated Interferon-α

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic and baseline characteristics of the study patients.

Characteristic	Total patient number (n = 308)
Age^a (years) (range)	53.6 ± 13.5 (20–79)
Gender (male)^b	157 (51)
HCV RNA^a × copies/mL	5.76 ± 12.22
Genotype^b
1	176 (57)
2/3	132 (43)
HVL^b	208 (67.5)
Fatty liver^b	150 (48.7)
Advanced fibrosis^b	152 (49.4)
BW^a (kg)	64.6 ± 12.3
BMI^a (kg/m^2)	25.0 ± 3.6
Ribavirin per BW^a (mg/kg)	16.1 ± 2.6
Cr^a (mg/dL)	0.9 ± 0.4
eGFR^a (mL/min)	91.97 ± 23.93
AST^a (U/L)	91.2 ± 57.9
ALT^a (U/L)	135.1 ± 100.2
Albumin^a (g/dL)	4.2 ± 0.5
Total bilirubin^a (mg/dL)	1.0 ± 0.4
White blood cell^a (× 10^3/μL)	5.9 ± 1.8
Hemoglobin^a (g/dL)	14.3 ± 1.7
Male	15.3 ± 1.4
Female	13.3 ± 1.3
Platelet count^a (× 10^3/μL)	176.1 ± 62.4
Cholesterol^a (mg/dL)	175.4 ± 30.6
TG^a (mg/dL)	94.8 ± 54.5

Notes: ^aMean ± SD, ^bNo. (%). HCV, hepatitis C virus; HVL, high HCV viral load (HCV RNA ≥ 1,200,000 copies/mL); BW, body weight; BMI, body mass index; Cr, creatinine; GFR, glomerular filtration rate; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; WBC, white blood cell; Hb, hemoglobin; TG, triglyceride.

Figure 1. Degree of absolute decrease in hemoglobin (Hb) level from the baseline.

Table 2. Factors associated with hemoglobin decrease analyzed using simple linear regression analysis.

Factors	β	B (95% CI)	p-Value
Age (per 10-year increase)	0.266	0.313 (0.186, 0.441)	<0.001
Gender (male)	0.13	0.414 (0.059, 0.77)	0.023
HCV RNA (copies/mL)	0.028	0.004 (−0.011, 0.018)	0.624
HCV genotype 1	0.082	0.266 (−0.1, 0.632)	0.154
HVL	0.184	0.627 (0.251, 1.003)	<0.001
Fatty liver	0.051	0.162 (−0.196, 0.52)	0.374
Advanced fibrosis	0.132	0.42 (0.057, 0.782)	0.023
BW (kg)	0.025	0.003 (−0.012, 0.018)	0.673
BMI (kg/m^2)	0.053	0.024 (−0.031, 0.079)	0.384
pegIFN-α-2a/2b	−0.085	−0.267 (−0.64, 0.088)	0.137
Ribavirin initial dose (mg/kg)	−0.028	−0.018 (−0.091, 0.056)	0.639
Cr (mg/dL)	0.11	0.432 (−0.021, 0.884)	0.061
eGFR (mL/min)	−0.229	−0.016 (−0.023, −0.008)	<0.001
Albumin (mg/dL)	−0.026	−0.089 (−0.525, 0.347)	0.687
Bilirubin, total (mg/dL)	0.08	0.308 (−0.125, 0.741)	0.163
AST (U/L)	0.074	0.002 (−0.001, 0.005)	0.197
ALT (U/L)	0.04	0.001 (−0.001, 0.002)	0.479
WBC (×10^3/μL)	−0.022	−0.019 (−0.119, 0.081)	0.706
Hb (g/dL)	0.241	0.232 (0.127, 0.336)	<0.001
PLT (×10^3/μL)	−0.165	−0.004 (−0.007, −0.001)	0.004
Cholesterol (mg/dL)	−0.262	−0.015 (−0.029, −0.001)	0.042
TG (mg/dL)	0.049	0.002 (−0.007, 0.01)	0.713

Notes: CI, confidence interval; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; HCV, hepatitis C virus; HVL, high HCV viral load (HCV RNA ≥ 1,200,000 copies/mL); BW, body weight; BMI, body mass index; Cr, creatinine; GFR, glomerular filtration rate; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; WBC, white blood cell; Hb, hemoglobin; PLT, platelet; TG, triglyceride.

Table 3. Factors associated with hemoglobin decrease analyzed using stepwise multiple regression analysis.

Factors	β	B (95% CI)	p-Value
Age (per 10-year increase)	0.243	0.303 (0.267, 0.539)	<0.001
Hb (per 1 g/dL increase)	0.339	0.320 (0.215, 0.425)	<0.001
HVL	0.165	0.559 (0.210, 0.907)	0.002
eGFR (per 1 mL/min/1.73 m^2 increase)	−0.225	−0.011 (−0.016,−0.001)	0.003
PLT (per 10^3/μL increase)	−0.175	−0.004 (−0.007,−0.002)	0.005

Notes: Hb, hemoglobin; HVL, high HCV viral load (HCV RNA ≥ 1,200,000 copies/mL); eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; PLT, platelet.