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. 1999 Jun;154(6):1877-81.
doi: 10.1016/S0002-9440(10)65445-4.

Histological damage in chronic hepatitis C is not related to the extent of infection in the liver

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Histological damage in chronic hepatitis C is not related to the extent of infection in the liver

E Rodríguez-Iñigo et al. Am J Pathol. 1999 Jun.

Abstract

It has not been completely elucidated whether the liver injury induced by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is due to direct cytopathic damage or to an immune-mediated response against HCV-infected hepatocytes. In this work, we have determined the percentage of HCV-infected hepatocytes, the histological activity index, and the viremia levels in chronically HCV-infected patients with different grades of liver injury to investigate any possible correlation between them. For that purpose, liver biopsies from 27 patients with HCV chronic hepatitis were analyzed by in situ hybridization. This technique revealed that the percentage of infected hepatocytes ranged from 0.04% to 83.6%. Regarding the viremia levels, HCV RNA concentration ranged from 1.8 x 10(3) to 1.4 x 10(6) genome copies/ml. A significant correlation (r = 0.54; P = 0.003) between the percentage of infected hepatocytes and the viremia levels was found. In contrast, no correlation was observed between the percentage of HCV-infected hepatocytes or the viremia levels and the histological activity index. In conclusion, we have shown that the HCV viremia reflects the extent of the infection in the liver and that the liver injury in chronic HCV infection is not directly related to either the number of infected hepatocytes or the serum HCV RNA concentration.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
In situ hybridization and mapping of HCV virus in different patients. a: negative control with no traces of infected hepatocytes. Distribution of infected cells (arrow) in patients with 1.8 × 10 genome copies/ml (b) and with 1.2 × 10 genome copies/ml (c) in serum. d: General view of a single frame capture to show the distribution of the infection. e: Visualization of the infection in a single hepatocyte.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Regression analysis of correlation between the percentage of infected hepatocytes and the serum viral load (genome copies/ml).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Fibrous and inflammatory portal expansion in two cases of chronic hepatitis C with very similar histological picture and different percentage of infected hepatocytes and viral load in serum. The patient in A had 1.8% infected hepatocytes and a viral load in serum of 1.8 × 10 copies genome/ml in serum. The patient in B had 41.6% infected hepatocytes and a viral load in serum of 1.2 × 10 genome copies/ml. These two patients’ in situ hybridization results are shown in Figure 1, b and c ▶ , respectively.

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