Today, with the introduction of interferon-free direct-acting antivirals and outstanding progresses in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, the elimination of HCV infection seems more achievable. A further challenge is continued transmission of HCV infection in high-risk population specially injecting drug users (IDUs) as the major reservoir of HCV infec...

Context: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection is a major cause of chronic cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Approximately 30% infected persons with HCV spontaneously clear the viral infection; but, some remaining patients develop HCV. Studies show that HLA molecules play an important role in outcome by influencing efficiency antiviral immune response to infection. It now known polymorphisms ...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is common in HIV-infected individuals and is responsible for increasing morbidity in these patients. HIV infection increases HCV replication and accelerates progression of HCV disease. HCV infection increases the risk of antiretroviral treatment. HCV genotype 1 is the predominant genotype in HCV/HIV-coinfected individuals living in the United States. State-of-t...

B-cell infection by hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been a controversial topic. To examine whether HCV has a genetically determined lymphotropism through a co-receptor specific for the infection by lymphotropic HCV, we established an infectious clone and chimeric virus of hepatotropic and lymphotropic HCV strains derived from an HCV-positive B-cell lymphoma. The viral envelope and 5'-UTR sequences ...

We used a sensitive and specific cDNA polymerase chain reaction assay to detect hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in serum samples from 128 unselected southern African Blacks with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and found HCV RNA in 26 (20.3%) of these patients. Antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV) were detected in 59 patients (46.1%) with a first-generation ELISA test, and only 19 of these patients were HCV ...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection often persists in association with chronic hepatitis. Different factors have been proposed to determine the clinical outcome of HCV infection. The aim of this study was to examine three different factors of HCV infection among injecting drug users. Nineteen untreated HCV seroconverters were tested longitudinally for the presence of HCV RNA by reverse transcript...

We report the case of an occasional intravenous drug user who developed two successive hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. The first infection led to seroconversion (anti-HCV antibodies detected) and the detection of HCV RNA in serum. After a spontaneous recovery (normalization of alanine aminotransferase levels and HCV RNA clearance), a second HCV infection was observed, with the recurrence of...

conclusions this study found that gbv-c infection has a high frequency among injecting drug users with hiv/hcv coinfection and hcv mono-infection in yunnan, china. in patients with chronic hepatitis c and hiv coinfection, gbv-c rna was associated with significantly lower alt and ast levels, suggesting a beneficial effect of gbv-c infection on chronic hepatitis c. results gbv-c rna was identifie...

BACKGROUND & AIMS The association between Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infection and fracture risk is not well characterized. We compared fracture risk between HCV-seropositive (HCV-exposed) patients and the general population and between patients with cleared and chronic HCV-infection. METHODS Outcome measures were time to first fracture at any site, time to first low-energy and first non-low-ene...