Effects Of Alcohol On Quasispecies Of The Hypervariable Region Of Hepatitis C Virus

Backgroud :Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and chronic alcoholism are major public heath problems worldwide. Alcohol have significantly effect on prognosis of hepatitis C. More importantly, habitual alcohol intake has been proposed to be an accelerating factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic hepatitis C. Also, heavy alcohol use results in increased probability for premature death among patients with hepatitis C virus infection and reduce the effects of therapy with interferon. However , little is still known about the relationship between HCV gene and habitual alcohol intake.Objective: In this paper , we want to study alcohol influence on quasispecies of the hypervariable region (HVR) of hepatitis c virus by detecting serum in alcoholics and non-alcoholics with polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism.Methods: 39 patients with hepatitis C virus infection were divided into two groups,20 alcoholics and 19 non-alcoholics, An alcoholic in the present study was defined as an individual who drank alcoholic beverages either containing more than 60 g ethanol/day for more than 5 years or containing accumulative ethanol more than 100g in past years just prior to admission. Gene chip technique was used to detect genotyping of the HCV. The quasispecies of the hypervariable region of the HCV genome were analyzed by using polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism.Results: Gender, age ,genetype of HCV, aspartate aminotransferase levels and clinical diagnosis of studied patients were not statistically different between alcoholics and non-alcoholics with HCV infection . The titer of HCV in alcoholics was higher than that in non-alcoholics (t=2.19, P<0.05) .The mean PCR-SSCP band number that reflected the quasispecies complexity in hypervariable region was increased in alcoholics than in non-alcoholics (5.10±1.65 vs3.79±1.44,P < 0.05).The significant increase in alcoholics remained even if the cases were restricted to HCV genotype 1b.Conclusion: Being addicted to drinking enhanced replication of HCV and increased the quasispecies complexity in hypervariable region of HCV,which may be the reason of poor prognosis and failure of therapy with interferon in alcoholics.