Hepatitis C Virus Damages Brain Cells

Monday 25 October 2010

News > 2010 > October > Hepatitis C Virus Causes Brain Inflammation Leading to Neuron Injury



Hepatitis C Virus Causes Brain Inflammation Leading to Neuron Injury


SUMMARY: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) can breach the blood-brain barrier and infect support cells in the brain, triggering inflammatory changes that ultimately result in damage to neurons, suggests new research published in the open access online journal PLoS One. Findings from this autopsy study may help explain how HCV infection causes neurocognitive impairment, including the poor concentration and memory problems commonly referred to as "brain fog."

Below is the text of a press release issued by the University of Alberta describing the study findings.

U of A Medical Research Team Discovers - Hepatitis C Virus Damages Brain Cells

Edmonton, Alberta -- October 7, 2010 -- A University of Alberta researcher specializing in neurological infections has discovered that the hepatitis C virus injures and inflames brain cells, resulting in neurological issues for some patients living with the disease. Until now, no one has been able to prove this.

A recent Canadian study suggests that 13 per cent of people with hepatitis C, a chronic condition that affects 300,000 Canadians, also have neurological problems. Other research has suggested the hepatitis C virus might penetrate the blood-brain barrier. Chris Power, the Canada Research Chair in Neurological Infection and Immunity with the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, and his team decided to tackle this theory conducting experiments on human cadavers.

"We saw the virus in the brain of a deceased patient who had hepatitis C," said Powers, who noted that normally it is very difficult for any type of virus or infection to pass the blood-brain barrier. Based on this discovery, the researchers made three new and major findings. The hepatitis C virus damaged those neurons in the brain responsible for motor functions, memory and concentration. The virus also triggered inflammation of the brain, which contributed to more neurons being damaged. And, thirdly, the virus stopped a natural process in the brain cells called autophagy, in which the cells get rid of unwanted toxic proteins. So, instead, the brain cells were accumulating large amounts of these toxic proteins, causing further damage to the brain cells.

"For a long time, the medical community has recognized some people who have hepatitis C also have memory loss and poor concentration, which is very disabling for those patients," says Power. "Now we have some understanding about the cause of these neurological symptoms that can lead to the development of future treatments for people with hepatitis C."

"This discovery is significant because this is the first time anyone has confirmed that the hepatitis C virus can infect and injure brain cells."

The research conducted by Power and his team was funded by an Emerging Team Grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He collaborated with Babita Agrawal and Jack Jhamandas, both of the U of A, and Chris Richardson of Dalhousie University in Halifax. The discoveries by Power and his team were just published in the prestigious Public Library of Science (PLoS) One journal.

10/15/10. Source - R Maurier, University of Alberta. U of A medical research team discovers hepatitis C virus damages brain cells. Press release. October 7, 2010



http://www.hepctrust.org.uk/

1 comments:

Jenny 26 October 2010 at 04:01  

Well I guess this is one of those good news/ bad news scenarios. Ok there is a reason I'm a space cadet, but it may get worse....I have yet to read the entire article, but I am curious to see if treatment slows this process and if you are lucky enough to beat this thing, if the brain remains "damaged" or if we can start thinking more clearly. Thanks for this helpful information!
Jenny

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What Is Hepatitis C?

Hepatitis C Information:

Hepatits C is a blood-borne viral disease which can cause liver inflamation, fibrosis, cirrhosis and liver cancer. The Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread by blood-to-blood contact with infected person's blood. Many people with HCV infection have no symptoms and are unaware of the need to seek treatment. Hepatitis C infects an estimated 150-200 million people worldwide. It is the leading cause of liver Transplant...

Hepatitis C is an inflamation of the liver caused by infection with the Hepatitis C virus is one of the five known hepatitis viruses: A, B, C, D & E. Hepatitis C was previousley known as non-A non-B hepatitis prior to isolation of the virus in 1989.

Symptoms of Acute Hepatitis C:

Acute Hepatitis C refers to first 6 months after infection with HCV. Remarkably, 60% - 70% of people develop no symptoms during the acute phase. In the minority of patients who experience acute phase symptoms, thet are generally mild and non-specific, and rarely lead to specific diagnoses of Hepatitis C. Symptoms of acute hepatitis C include decreased appetite, fatigue, abdominal pain, jaundice, itching and flu-like symptoms.

Symptoms of Chronic Hepatitis C:

Chronic Hepatitis C is defined as infection with the Hepatitis C virus persisting for more than six months. The course of chronic hepatitis C varies considerably from one person to another. Virtually all people infected with HCV have evidence of inflamation on liver biopsy however, the rate of progression of liver scarring (fibrosis) shows significant inter-individual variability.

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