IFNA17 and hematocrit: Before starting DAAs therapy, all the 8 of 113 patients (7.1%) with TPOAb and/or TgAb positive (indicated as ATA + in Table 1) belonged to IFN-α group; 5 of them showed moderate US hypoechogenicity and were euthyroid, while the remaining 3 had marked US hypoechogenicity with overt hypothyroidism; all fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of HT.