Hepatitis C virus-induced differential transcriptional traits in host cells after persistent infection elimination by direct-acting antivirals in cell culture.
J Med Virol
; 96(7): e29787, 2024 Jul.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38988177
ABSTRACT
Chronic hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) causes liver inflammation and fibrosis, leading to the development of severe liver disease, such as cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Approval of direct-acting antiviral drug combinations has revolutionized chronic HCV therapy, with virus eradication in >98% of the treated patients. The efficacy of these treatments is such that it is formally possible for cured patients to carry formerly infected cells that display irreversible transcriptional alterations directly caused by chronic HCV Infection. Combining differential transcriptomes from two different persistent infection models, we observed a major reversion of infection-related transcripts after complete infection elimination. However, a small number of transcripts were abnormally expressed in formerly infected cells. Comparison of the results obtained in proliferating and growth-arrested cell culture models suggest that permanent transcriptional alterations may be established by several mechanisms. Interestingly, some of these alterations were also observed in the liver biopsies of virologically cured patients. Overall, our data suggest a direct and permanent impact of persistent HCV infection on the host cell transcriptome even after virus elimination, possibly contributing to the development of HCC.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Antiviral Agents
/
Hepacivirus
/
Hepatitis C, Chronic
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
J Med Virol
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Spain