Editorial
Copyright ©2012 Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Exp Med. Apr 20, 2012; 2(2): 7-25
Published online Apr 20, 2012. doi: 10.5493/wjem.v2.i2.7
Hepatitis C virus-host interactions: Etiopathogenesis and therapeutic strategies
Mohamed Hassan, Denis Selimovic, Abdelouahid El-Khattouti, Hanan Ghozlan, Youssef Haikel, Ola Abdelkader
Mohamed Hassan, Denis Selimovic, Youssef Haikel, National Institute of Health and Medical Research, U 977, Faculty of Medicine, and Dental Faculty, 11 Rue Humann, 67085 Strasbourg Cedex, France
Mohamed Hassan, Denis Selimovic, Youssef Haikel, Department of Operative Dentistry and Endodontics, Dental Faculty, University of Strasbourg, 67085 Strasbourg Cedex, France 67000 Strasbourg, France
Mohamed Hassan, Laboratory for Molecular Tumor Therapy, niversity Hospital of Duesseldorf, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany
Abdelouahid El-Khattouti, Institute of Haemostasis and Transfusion Medicine, University Hospital of Duesseldorf, 40225 Duesseldorf, Germany
Hanan Ghozlan, Deparment of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt
Ola Abdelkader, Department of Microbiology, Medical Research Institute, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to this paper.
Correspondence to: Mohamed Hassan, PhD, National Institute of Health and Medical Research, U 977, Faculty of Medicine, and Dental Faculty, 11 Rue Humann, 67085 Strasbourg Cedex, France. dr.hassan@gmx.de
Telephone: +33-3-68853214 Fax: +33-3-68853223
Received: February 4, 2012
Revised: April 16, 2012
Accepted: April 18, 2012
Published online: April 20, 2012
Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a significant health problem facing the world. This virus infects more than 170 million people worldwide and is considered the major cause of both acute and chronic hepatitis. Persons become infected mainly through parenteral exposure to infected material by blood transfusions or injections with nonsterile needles. Although the sexual behavior is considered as a high risk factor for HCV infection, the transmission of HCV infection through sexual means, is less frequently. Currently, the available treatment for patients with chronic HCV infection is interferon based therapies alone or in combination with ribavirin and protease inhibitors. Although a sustained virological response of patients to the applied therapy, a great portion of patients did not show any response. HCV infection is mostly associated with progressive liver diseases including fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Although the focus of many patients and clinicians is sometimes limited to that problem, the natural history of HCV infection (HCV) is also associated with the development of several extrahepatic manifestations including dermatologic, rheumatologic, neurologic, and nephrologic complications, diabetes, arterial hypertension, autoantibodies and cryglobulins. Despite the notion that HCV-mediated extrahepatic manifestations are credible, the mechanism of their modulation is not fully described in detail. Therefore, the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of HCV-induced alteration of intracellular signal transduction pathways, during the course of HCV infection, may offer novel therapeutic targets for HCV-associated both hepatic and extrahepatic manifestations. This review will elaborate the etiopathogenesis of HCV-host interactions and summarize the current knowledge of HCV-associated diseases and their possible therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: Hepatitis C virus; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Extrahepatic; Signalling; Therapy