title: Alcoholic Liver Disease and Hepatitis C Chronic Infection.
abstract: Alcoholic and virus C hepatitis currently represent the main causes of chronic liver disease worldwide. Every year many people die and are subjected to complex hospitalization and medical assistance due to these pathologies. Alcoholic liver disease and hepatitis C virus chronic infection are often present in the same patient. These two pathologies sinergically act in determining the onset and progression of liver damage that, from the chronic hepatitis staging, may rapidly progress to fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. In this review we analysed physiopathological aspects and biomolecular interactions that relate ethanol and hepatitis C virus in determining liver damage; moreover we took into account the effect on the natural history of liver disease deriving from the co-presence of these pathologies. Therefore we paid particular attention to the ability of ethanol and hepatitis C virus to in inducing oxidative stress or lipid accumulation, and analyzed the basic mechanisms of fibrogenesis that both diseases have got, amplified by their co-presence in the same patient. Finally we paid attention to the oncogenetic mechanisms inducing hepatocellular carcinoma and variability of response to antiviral therapy that derives from alcohol abuse in a subject affected by C hepatitis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hepatogastroenterology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Second University of Naples, Via Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Federico
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dallio
authors.forename: Vittorio M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Ormando
authors.forename: Ludovico
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Abenavoli
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Masarone
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Persico
authors.forename: Carmela
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Loguercio
mesh_terms: D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008108:Liver Diseases, Alcoholic / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*