Influence of quasispecies on virological responses and disease severity in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
Abstract
To elucidate the influence of quasispecies on virological response and disease severity in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Forty seven patients with hepatitis C [32 with chronic active hepatitis (CAH), 9 with cirrhosis, and 6 with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)] were screened for the presence of quasispecies by single stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis in the hypervariable region (HVR) and non-structural 5B (NS5B) viral genes of hepatitis C virus. The 41 patients excluding those with HCC were on therapy and followed up for a year with the determination of virological response and disease severity. Virus isolated from twenty three randomly selected patients (11 non-responders and 12 showing a sustained virological response) was sequenced for the assessment of mutations. The occurrence of quasispecies was proportionately higher in patients with HCC and cirrhosis than in those with CAH, revealing a significant correlation between the molecular evolution of quasispecies and the severity of disease in patients with hepatitis C. The occurrence of complex quasispecies has a significant association (P < 0.05) with the non-responders, and leads to persistence of infection. Significant differences (P < 0.05) in viral...Continue Reading
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