Does hepatitis C virus play a role in “non‐viral” chronic liver disease?

Liddle, Christopher; Eb, Crewe; Nr, Swanson; Gp, Jeffrey; Al, Cunningham; Wd, Reed; Rg, Batey; Farrell, G

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.1990.tb136898.x

Cited by 10 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…One patient had antibodies to HCV but no viral RNA on second-generation RIBA, and two patients had detectable viral RNA in serum. The frequent presence of anti-HCV (particularly on firstgeneration ELISA) in patients with autoimmune liver disease has been noted (11)(12)(13)(14)(15). In many patients this phenomenon has been shown to be due to false-positive results resulting from interference by high globulin levels in patients with autoimmune liver disease.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The recent discovery of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) illuminated the pathogenesis of disease in most patients with blood-borne non-A, non-B (NANB) hepatitis (1-7). Moreover, HCV has been found in association with approximately 50% of non-blood-borne cryptogenic liver diseases (1, 2, 6-11) and has been suggested to be involved in the development of autoimmune liver disease (11)(12)(13)(14)(15). However, despite the identification of HCV, the pathogeneses of many liver diseases remain unclear.…”

Section: Departments Of Imedicine 2pathology and 3surgery Universitmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Cirrhosis of undefined pathogenesis: Absence of evidence for unknown viruses or autoimmune processes

et al. 1993

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To examine whether unknown viruses or autoimmune processes contribute to the development of cryptogenic liver disease, we studied 48 patients undergoing liver transplantation who had non-A, non-B cirrhosis; non-blood-borne cirrhosis of unknown etiology; or autoimmune cirrhosis. After the diagnosis of hepatitis C virus infection was established by the presence of viral antibodies or viral RNA, patients were reclassified into three groups: hepatitis C virus infection, autoimmune cirrhosis and cryptogenic cirrhosis. Explant histological appearance, incidence of posttransplant hepatitis and immunological features were compared in the three groups. Thirty-one percent of patients had neither hepatitis C virus infection nor classical autoimmune cirrhosis and were classified as having cryptogenic cirrhosis. Unlike histological appearance in hepatitis C virus infection but similar to that in autoimmune cirrhosis, explant histological appearance of cryptogenic cirrhosis showed inactive cirrhosis with little inflammation. After transplantation, histological hepatitis of the allograft was demonstrated in 44% of patients with hepatitis C infection but in no patient with autoimmune or cryptogenic cirrhosis. The autoimmune score, developed from clinical criteria associated with autoimmune liver disease, was significantly lower in cryptogenic cirrhosis and hepatitis C virus infection than in autoimmune cirrhosis. Autoantibodies--including antinuclear antibodies, smooth muscle antibodies and liver-kidney microsomal antibodies--were not commonly present in serum of patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis, whereas antibodies to soluble liver antigens were found with increased frequency in this entity. We conclude that in many patients with liver disease, no pathogenesis can be identified.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

show abstract