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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Oct 14, 2015; 21(38): 10776-10782
Published online Oct 14, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i38.10776
Modulation of host lipid metabolism by hepatitis C virus: Role of new therapies
José A Del Campo, Manuel Romero-Gómez
José A Del Campo, Manuel Romero-Gómez, Digestive Diseases and CIBERehd, Valme University Hospital, 41014 Seville, Spain
Author contributions: Del Campo JA and Romero-Gómez M contributed equally to this work, by analyzing published papers and writing the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interest to report.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: José A Del Campo, PhD, Digestive Diseases and CIBERehd, Valme University Hospital, University of Seville, Avda. Bellavista s/n, 41014 Seville, Spain. jantonio.delcampo@ciberehd.org
Telephone: +34-95-5015485 Fax: +34-95-5015799
Received: April 21, 2015
Peer-review started: April 22, 2015
First decision: June 23, 2015
Revised: July 7, 2015
Accepted: September 14, 2015
Article in press: September 14, 2015
Published online: October 14, 2015
Processing time: 176 Days and 9.5 Hours
Abstract

It is well established that hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and replication relies on host lipid metabolism. HCV proteins interact and associate with lipid droplets to facilitate virion assembly and production. Besides, circulating infective particles are associated with very low-density lipoprotein. On the other hand, higher serum lipid levels have been associated with sustained viral response to pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy in chronic HCV infection, suggesting a relevant role in viral clearance for host proteins. Host and viral genetic factors play an essential role in chronic infection. Lipid metabolism is hijacked by viral infection and could determine the success of viral replication. Recently development of direct acting antiviral agents has shown a very high efficacy (> 90%) in sustained viral response rates even for cirrhotic patients and most of the viral genotypes. HCV RNA clearance induced by Sofosbuvir has been associated with an increased concentration and size of the low-density lipoprotein particles. In this review, host genetic factors, viral factors and the interaction between them will be depicted to clarify the major issues involved in viral infection and lipid metabolism.

Keywords: Hepatitis C virus; Lipid metabolism; Direct acting antiviral agents; Genetic interaction; Sofosbuvir

Core tip: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is known to be closely related and associated with host lipid metabolism. Recently development of direct acting antiviral agents has shown a very high efficacy (> 90%) in sustained viral response rates even for cirrhotic patients and most of the viral genotypes. HCV RNA clearance induced by Sofosbuvir has been associated with an increased concentration and size of the low-density lipoprotein particles. Host and viral genetic factors play an essential role in chronic infection. Lipid metabolism is hijacked by viral infection and could determine the success of viral replication.