SEN virus infection influences the pathological findings in liver but does not affect the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatitis C and liver cirrhosis

Liver Int. 2005 Apr;25(2):226-35. doi: 10.1111/j.1478-3231.2005.01076.x.

Abstract

Background/aims: This investigation compared the histological findings in the livers of chronic hepatitis C patients who were or were not co-infected with SEN virus (SEN-V) to determine the histological and clinical characteristics of SEN-V infection in Japan.

Methods: Three hundred and ninety-two patients with hepatitis C virus-associated chronic hepatitis (CH) or liver cirrhosis (LC) were included in the study. Serum samples were tested for the presence of SEN-V DNA by nested polymerase chain reaction. The liver biopsy specimen of each patient was examined and scores were assigned to indicate the severity of each of the following features: inflammatory cell infiltration in the periportal, parenchymal, and portal areas; F stage; portal sclerotic change; perivenular fibrosis; pericellular fibrosis; damage to the bile ducts; steatosis and irregular regeneration of hepatocytes (IR).

Results: Of the 473 patients, 194 (41.0%) were positive for SEN-V DNA. The rate of progression of F stage correlated with SEN-V DNA positivity. The blood biochemical parameters did not differ significantly between the SEN-V DNA-positive and -negative patients. The histological features of the livers of SEN-V DNA-positive patients included more severe parenchymal inflammatory cell infiltration and more IR. In particular, among those at the F2, F3 and F4 stages, the degree of IR of the SEN-V DNA-positive patients was significantly greater than that of the SEN-V DNA-negative patients. The cumulative probability of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) incidence and survival rate did not differ between the SEN-V DNA-positive and-negative patients.

Conclusions: SEN-V co-infection may influence the histopathological features of the livers of patients with type C CH and LC but does not affect the outcome of patients with type C chronic liver disease.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Age Distribution
  • Base Sequence
  • Biopsy, Needle
  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / epidemiology*
  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / pathology
  • Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / virology*
  • Cohort Studies
  • DNA Virus Infections / diagnosis*
  • DNA Virus Infections / epidemiology
  • DNA Viruses / isolation & purification
  • DNA, Viral / analysis
  • Disease Progression
  • Female
  • Hepatitis C, Chronic / epidemiology
  • Hepatitis C, Chronic / pathology*
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Japan / epidemiology
  • Liver Cirrhosis / epidemiology
  • Liver Cirrhosis / pathology
  • Liver Cirrhosis / virology*
  • Liver Function Tests
  • Liver Neoplasms / epidemiology*
  • Liver Neoplasms / pathology
  • Liver Neoplasms / virology*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods
  • Prevalence
  • Probability
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Risk Assessment
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Sex Distribution
  • Survival Rate

Substances

  • DNA, Viral