title: Hepatitis C virus infection and thyroid autoimmune disorders: A model of interactions between the host and the environment.
abstract: The hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is an important public health problem and it is associated with hepatic and extrahepatic manifestations. Autoimmune thyroid diseases are common in HCV infected patients and the standard interferon-based treatment is associated with an increase of the immune-mediated thyroid damage. Recent evidence in the literature analyzed critical points of the mechanisms of thyroid damage, focusing on the balance between the two sides of the interaction: The environment (virus infection with potential cross-reaction) and the host (susceptibility genes with consistent immune response). The spectrum of antiviral treatment for chronic HCV infection is rapidly expanding for the development of dual o triple therapy. The availability of interferon-free combined treatment with direct antiviral agents for HCV is very promising, in order to ameliorate the patient compliance and to reduce the development of thyroid autoimmunity.
authors.affiliation: Francesca Pastore, Antonio Martocchia, Manuela Stefanelli, Pietro Prunas, Stefania Giordano, Lavinia Toussan, Antonio Devito, Paolo Falaschi, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, S. Andrea Hospital, 00189 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pastore
authors.affiliation: Francesca Pastore, Antonio Martocchia, Manuela Stefanelli, Pietro Prunas, Stefania Giordano, Lavinia Toussan, Antonio Devito, Paolo Falaschi, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, S. Andrea Hospital, 00189 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martocchia
authors.affiliation: Francesca Pastore, Antonio Martocchia, Manuela Stefanelli, Pietro Prunas, Stefania Giordano, Lavinia Toussan, Antonio Devito, Paolo Falaschi, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, S. Andrea Hospital, 00189 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stefanelli
authors.affiliation: Francesca Pastore, Antonio Martocchia, Manuela Stefanelli, Pietro Prunas, Stefania Giordano, Lavinia Toussan, Antonio Devito, Paolo Falaschi, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, S. Andrea Hospital, 00189 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Prunas
authors.affiliation: Francesca Pastore, Antonio Martocchia, Manuela Stefanelli, Pietro Prunas, Stefania Giordano, Lavinia Toussan, Antonio Devito, Paolo Falaschi, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, S. Andrea Hospital, 00189 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giordano
authors.affiliation: Francesca Pastore, Antonio Martocchia, Manuela Stefanelli, Pietro Prunas, Stefania Giordano, Lavinia Toussan, Antonio Devito, Paolo Falaschi, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, S. Andrea Hospital, 00189 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Lavinia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Toussan
authors.affiliation: Francesca Pastore, Antonio Martocchia, Manuela Stefanelli, Pietro Prunas, Stefania Giordano, Lavinia Toussan, Antonio Devito, Paolo Falaschi, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, S. Andrea Hospital, 00189 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Devito
authors.affiliation: Francesca Pastore, Antonio Martocchia, Manuela Stefanelli, Pietro Prunas, Stefania Giordano, Lavinia Toussan, Antonio Devito, Paolo Falaschi, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, S. Andrea Hospital, 00189 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Falaschi
keywords: Antiviral agents; Hepatitis C virus; Interferon; Self-tolerance; Thyroid autoimmunity