Markers for detecting pathologies after treatment of hepatitis C
However, the impact that clearance of the infection has on the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (the most common type of liver cancer) in these patients is unknown, and this process is not completely reversible despite cure of the hepatitis C virus.
A study conducted by researchers at the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), an organization dependent on the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU), identified a small number of genes that continue to be abnormally expressed in cells free of infection.
These changes are consistent with those observed in liver biopsies of virologically cured patients and demonstrate the value of infection models used to search for markers of post-treatment liver status in patients after infection has cleared, which may facilitate follow-up of these patients.
Infection models
Under the supervision of a researcher from the CSIC National Centre for Biotechnology (CNB-CSIC). Pablo Gastaminza, used two models of persistent infection in cell cultures to analyze and compare differences in gene expression levels after complete eradication of viral infection.
Gastaminza emphasizes that in the article published in Journal of Medical Virology, “We describe a general change in the expression of infection-related genes after resolution of the infection and how, however, a small number of genes continue to be abnormally expressed in cells that are now free of infection.”
Research News
Victoria Castroresearcher at CNB-CSIC and first author of the paper, describes in detail the novelty of the work: “Comparison of the results obtained in the two types of cell culture models suggests that permanent transcriptional changes may be established either through the selection of cell subpopulations with greater competitive capacity, in the case of proliferative cultures, or due to the direct effect of virus replication on the regulation of cellular gene expression. Moreover, some of the changes observed in both models are compatible with those observed in liver biopsies from patients cured of chronic infection.”
In addition, the researcher continues, “these infection models may provide relevant information for the search for markers of liver health after recovery, which may facilitate the follow-up of these patients who are not exempt from the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma. On the other hand, these data provide new insights into the direct contribution of viral replication to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma.”
This work is the result of a collaboration between researchers from the CIBER Liver and Digestive Diseases (CIBEREHD), Pablo Gastamins from CNB-CSIC and Sofia Pérez del Pulgar from IDIBAPS in Barcelona, in conjunction with the Bioinformatics Unit Genomics and Proteomics of CNB-CSIC.
Scientific reference:
Victoria Castro, Gema Calvo, Juan Carlos Oliveros, Sofia Perez del Pulgar and Pablo Gastaminza. Differential transcriptional regulation induced by hepatitis C virus in host cells after clearance of persistent infection by direct-acting antiviral drugs in cell culture. Journal of Medical Virology 2024, DOI: doi.org/10.1002/jmv.29787.
Fountain: CSIC