ArticleBMC infectious diseases2026
Direct-acting antiviral therapy in HCV patients: a retrospective study of the pre- and post-treatment impact in Saudi Arabia.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy revolutionized hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment, offering high cure rates and improved tolerability compared to previous interferon-based regimens, HCV remains a major global health problem, with a lack of empirical data on HCV in Saudi Arabia. This study aims to investigate the current understanding of the clinical impact of DAA on HCV infection by examining its effectiveness in reducing viral load and achieving sustained virologic response (SVR).
methodsThis retrospective study was conducted in n = 144 Saudi HCV patients, treated in an outpatient clinic and who received DAA treatment between January 2016 and December 2023.
resultsAll included n = 144 (100%) patients achieved SVR and had undetectable viral load after treatment: n = 29 (20.1%) had GT1, n = 9 (6.3%) GT2, n = 8 (5.6%) GT3, n = 56 (38.9%) GT4. It was found that n = 42 (29.2%) had an unknown genotype. While successful completion of the regimen with 100% SVR resulted in a significant reduction in the mean liver enzymes alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), and alkaline phosphate (ALP) (p = 0.000), conjugated bilirubin levels did not change. Between 2016 and 2023, there was a significant decline in HCV incidence of 77%, falling from 0.54% to 0.12% of HCV cases during this period.
conclusionsIn this real-world cohort, direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy achieved high sustained virologic response (SVR) rates across all HCV genotypes, with excellent tolerability and minimal adverse events. These findings confirm the effectiveness of DAAs in achieving viral eradication among patients treated at our center. CLINICAL TRIAL: Not applicable. This study was a retrospective observational analysis and was not registered as a clinical trial.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.