title: Hepatitis C virus load in parenchyma cells correlates with hepatic injury in infected patients.
abstract: The association between serum hepatitis C virus (HCV) load and hepatic injury in HCV-infected patients has been extensively investigated. The present study aimed to investigate the association between HCV load in hepatic parenchyma cells and hepatic injury in HCV-infected patients. A total of 56 HCV-infected patients were included in the present retrospective study. The serum HCV mRNA was determined using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, while the hepatic parenchyma cell volume and HCV mRNA in hepatic parenchyma cells were also determined. Hepatic injury was evaluated on the basis of the severity of inflammation and fibrosis. The results demonstrated that there were evident differences in the mean serum HCV RNA levels and the HCV load/parenchyma cell volume among the various grades of hepatic inflammation (G1-G4) when groups with the least and most inflammation were compared (G1 vs. G4; P<0.05). Significant differences in the HCV load existed between groups divided according to the fibrosis grade; in addition, differences existed between fibrosis grades S1 and S2, and S2 and S4 when comparing serum HCV RNA levels (P<0.05). Similarly, differences existed between every two fibrosis stages (S0 vs. S4, S2 vs. S3, and S2 vs. S4; P<0.05) when viral loads and parenchyma cell volumes were compared (F=2.860, P<0.05). Furthermore, the fibrosis staging was correlated with the viral load/parenchyma cell volume (F=2.670, P<0.05). In conclusion, hepatic fibrosis grade was found to be associated with HCV load in parenchyma cells. The results of the present study demonstrated that the viral load in parenchyma cells is a more appropriate index compared with the serum viral load for evaluating HCV replication in hepatocytes, and may function as an important factor in HCV-infected hepatic injury evaluation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510630, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Lingnan Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510530, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ji-Zong
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510630, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Guo-Li
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510630, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Fang-Fang
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510630, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510630, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Xin
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510630, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510630, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wei-Ming
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510630, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Hong
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: fibrosis; hepatic inflammation; image analysis