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Difference in quasispecies of the hypervariable region 1 of hepatitis C virus between alcoholic and non-alcoholic patients.
- Source :
-
Journal of gastroenterology and hepatology [J Gastroenterol Hepatol] 2001 Apr; Vol. 16 (4), pp. 416-23. - Publication Year :
- 2001
-
Abstract
- Background: Habitual alcohol intake is known to aggravate the clinical outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related chronic liver diseases and to increase the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma.<br />Methods: To investigate the possible mechanism of these effects by alcohol, we examined 31 cases of HCV-related chronic liver diseases of which 17 cases were drinking just before admission and the remaining 14 cases were non-drinkers. The studied cases included 18 patients with chronic hepatitis, six with liver cirrhosis and seven with hepatocellular carcinoma. The quasispecies of the hypervariable region 1 of the HCV genome were analyzed by using polymerase chain reaction single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP). Hepatitis C virus viral load was quantitated by using multicyclic PCR after reverse transcription of the 5' non-coding region of the genome.<br />Results: The mean PCR-SSCP band number that reflected the quasispecies complexity in hypervariable region 1 was more significantly increased in alcoholics than in non-alcoholics (5.5 +/- 1.4 vs 3.9 +/- 1.1, P< 0.01). The significant increase in alcoholics remained, even if the cases were restricted to males (P < 0.01), to HCV genotype 1b (P < 0.05) or to chronic hepatitis (P < 0.05). The HCV viral load was not statistically different between alcoholic and non-alcoholic HCV-related chronic liver diseases (5.02 x 10(6) +/- 5.16 x 10(6) copies/mL vs 9.00 x 10(7) +/- 2.75 x 10(8) copies/mL, P = 0.28). Mutation events seemed to occur randomly when amino acid sequences of hypervariable region 1 were compared between four drinkers and four non-drinkers.<br />Conclusions: The enhanced quasispecies complexity in hypervariable region 1 of HCV in alcoholics may be the main cause of more progressive HCV-related chronic liver diseases, and may provide the disease the resistance against any therapeutic modalities including interferon.
- Subjects :
- Aged
Amino Acid Sequence genetics
Chronic Disease
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Molecular Sequence Data
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational
Reference Values
Alcoholism complications
Alcoholism genetics
Hepacivirus genetics
Hepatitis C complications
Immunoglobulin Variable Region
Liver Diseases genetics
Liver Diseases virology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0815-9319
- Volume :
- 16
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Journal of gastroenterology and hepatology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 11354280
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1746.2001.02462.x