In large randomized controlled trials, serum enzymes elevations were uncommon in patients treated with sofosbuvir despite the fact that the patients being treated had chronic liver disease. In most situations, serum aminotransferase levels improved rapidly upon initiating sofosbuvir therapy, and de novo, late elevations of ALT above 3 times the upper limit of normal (ULN) were uncommon and less frequent than with placebo or no therapy. In multiple, large clinical trials sofosbuvir has not been linked to instances of clinically apparent liver injury with jaundice. Because sofosbuvir is always used with other antiviral agents, it is not always possible to separate the relative role of sofosbuvir from other drugs in causing adverse reactions.
Two rare and unusual forms of liver injury of uncertain relationship to sofosbuvir have been described in patients with receiving antiviral therapy for hepatitis C: sudden hepatic decompensation in patients with preexisting cirrhosis and reactivation of hepatitis B in patients with preexisting evidence of HBV infection.
A rare, but striking liver injury associated with sofosbuvir (and perhaps other potent agents active against HCV) is hepatic decompensation occurring in patients with preexisting cirrhosis. In several instances, decompensation occurred within 2 to 6 weeks of starting therapy (Case 1), while in others it occurred late during therapy or in the immediate posttreatment period. The typical pattern of onset was a progressive rise in bilirubin with signs of hepatic failure such as prolongation of the prothrombin time, decrease in serum albumin and appearance of ascites and hepatic encephalopathy. In many (but not all) instances, serum enzyme levels did not change or increased only slightly in comparison to pretreatment values. In all instances, sofosbuvir was being used in combination with other antiviral agents, such as peginterferon, simeprevir, daclatasvir or ledipasvir, and the specific role of sofosbuvir has been difficult to define. The decompensation usually coincided with rapid viral clearance and patients who survived the episode often had a sustained virological response. The cause of this decompensation is not clear, but it may represent a response to HCV viral eradication (on-target effect) rather than toxicity of the administered antiviral agents (off-target effect on the liver). Alternatively, the injury may be coincidental and unrelated to therapy.
A second form of liver injury that can occur with sofosbuvir therapy and perhaps other potent anti-HCV agents is reactivation of hepatitis B. Instances of clinically apparent hepatitis with rises in serum HBV DNA levels have been reported in patients with chronic hepatitis C who were HBsAg positive and had low levels of HBV DNA which were not thought to be the cause of the chronic liver disease (Case 2). Reactivation has also been described in patients who have anti-HBc without HBsAg in serum, a pattern that suggests previous recovery from hepatitis B. HBV reactivation typically arises within 2 to 8 weeks of starting therapy for hepatitis C and it can be clinically manifest with symptoms of acute hepatitis and marked elevations in serum aminotransferase levels and bilirubin. Instances of death from HBV reactivation have been reported with sofosbuvir therapy. The cause of reactivation is unclear, but it may reflect the eradication of HCV replication which has a nonspecific suppressive effect on HBV replication. Alternatively, the change in immune reactivity with sudden clearance of HCV or as a result of a direct activity of the antiviral agents may alter the replicative status of HBV.
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