Adinolfi LE, Nevola R, Lus G, Restivo L, Guerrera B, Romano C, Zampino R, Rinaldi L, Sellitto A, Giordano M, Marrone A. Chronic hepatitis C virus infection and neurological and psychiatric disorders: An overview. World J Gastroenterol 2015; 21(8): 2269-2280 [PMID: 25741133 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i8.2269]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Luigi Elio Adinolfi, MD, Professor, Director of Internal Medicine, Clinical Hospital of Marcianise, Second University of Naples, ASL Caserta, Rione Santella, 81025 Marcianise (CE), Italy. luigielio.adinolfi@unina2.it
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
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/
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 28, 2015; 21(8): 2269-2280 Published online Feb 28, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i8.2269
Chronic hepatitis C virus infection and neurological and psychiatric disorders: An overview
Luigi Elio Adinolfi, Riccardo Nevola, Giacomo Lus, Luciano Restivo, Barbara Guerrera, Ciro Romano, Rosa Zampino, Luca Rinaldi, Ausilia Sellitto, Mauro Giordano, Aldo Marrone
Luigi Elio Adinolfi, Clinical Hospital of Marcianise, Second University of Naples, 81025 Marcianise (CE), Italy
Luigi Elio Adinolfi, Riccardo Nevola, Luciano Restivo, Barbara Guerrera, Ciro Romano, Rosa Zampino, Luca Rinaldi, Ausilia Sellitto, Mauro Giordano, Aldo Marrone, Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Geriatric, and Metabolic Sciences, Second University of Naples, 80100 Naples, Italy
Giacomo Lus, Neurological Sciences, Second University of Naples, 80100 Naples, Italy
Author contributions: Adinolfi LE and Nevola R conceived, drafted the article, and approved the final version; Restivo L, Guerrera B, Romano C, Zampino R, Rinaldi L, Sellitto A and Marrone A conceived the paper, reviewed the literature, and approved the final version of this article; Lus G and Giordano M critically reviewed the manuscript and approved the final version of this article.
Supported by Research grant from Regione Campania, Italy.
Conflict-of-interest: All authors have no conflicts of interest.
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: Luigi Elio Adinolfi, MD, Professor, Director of Internal Medicine, Clinical Hospital of Marcianise, Second University of Naples, ASL Caserta, Rione Santella, 81025 Marcianise (CE), Italy. luigielio.adinolfi@unina2.it
Telephone: +39-823-690642 Fax: +39-823-690642
Received: October 1, 2014 Peer-review started: October 3, 2014 First decision: October 29, 2014 Revised: November 11, 2014 Accepted: January 8, 2015 Article in press: January 8, 2015 Published online: February 28, 2015 Processing time: 150 Days and 12.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: High prevalence of neuropsychiatric disorders has been reported in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients. Cerebrovascular disease, brain inflammatory disorders, cognitive symptoms, peripheral neuropathy, and psychiatric disturbs are among the multifaceted clinical manifestations occurring during chronic HCV infection. HCV induces neurological and psychiatric symptoms through several complex and as yet unclear mechanisms, including direct brain neurotoxicity, metabolic and neurotransmitter pathway derangement, inflammation, and immune-mediated responses. Knowledge of HCV-associated neuropsychiatric manifestations and pathogenic mechanisms is paramount to correctly understand the whole clinical picture and to institute an appropriate treatment. Evidence suggests improvement of neurological symptoms following specific antiviral therapy.
