Does the Natural History of Hepatitis C Vary According to HCV Genotype?

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Does the Natural History of Hepatitis C Vary According to HCV

Genotype?

By Liz Highleyman

It is well known that individuals with genotype 1 hepatitis C virus

(HCV) do not respond as well to interferon-based therapy as those

with genotypes 2 or 3, but less is known about the effect of genotype

on the natural history and progression of hepatitis C.

As reported in the March 2007 Journal of Viral Hepatitis, researchers

with the HCV National Register Steering Group in the United Kingdom

assessed whether HCV genotype might influence the clinical outcome of

infection.

They analyzed serum samples from 749 individuals enrolled in the UK

HCV National Register, and extracted clinical outcome information

from the database.

Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the effect of

HCV genotype on viral clearance, comparing HCV RNA positive and

negative subjects. The same method was used to investigate whether

HCV genotype was associated with histological stage of liver disease.

Results

• The prevalence of HCV genotype 1 among patients who spontaneously

cleared the virus was 69%, compared with 51% among those who remained

HCV RNA positive.

• Patients with genotype 1 were more likely to be HCV RNA negative

than those with other genotypes (OR 0.47; P = 0.003).

• Among subjects with continued detectable HCV RNA, genotype 1

patients were more likely to have histological scores above the

median (OR 2.03; P = 0.03).

Conclusion

" HCV [geno]type 1 infection was more often HCV RNA negative, " the

authors concluded, " suggesting that spontaneous clearance may occur

more commonly with this type. " However, they added, " Among the [HCV]

RNA-positive infections, [geno]type 1 infection may be more

aggressive than [geno]types 2/3.

03/30/07

References

H E , K P Eldridge, S Harbour, and others (HCV National

Register Steering Group). Does the clinical outcome of hepatitis C

infection vary with the infecting hepatitis C virus type? Journal of

Viral Hepatitis 14(3): 213-220. March 2007.