Hepatitis C. Virus Infection: Mechanisms of Disease Progression
Abstract
An estimated 4.1 million individuals in the United States are chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus. Annually 8,000 to 10,000 of these subjects will die of liver-related complications and approximately 1,000 will require liver transplantation. The U.S. military has rates of HCV infection similar to the general U.S. population (1.6%). However, it is a younger population and its natural history of HCV infection has not been studied. Therefore, the clinical outcome of HCV-infected military subjects and risk factors contributing to disease progression are largely unknown. Such knowledge is essential for decisions regarding optimal management and prevention of the disease. This study focuses on active duty military subjects infected with HCV, who will be enrolled and observed prospectively over 4 years. The principal hypothesis is that in active duty members infected with HCV genotype-1, liver disease progresses more rapidly than in subjects infected with HCV nongenotype-1. The effect of other factors that might influence histologic progression of liver disease, including age, race, rank, deployment, alcohol consumption, and HCV RNA level will be assessed. Liver biopsies are to be performed at initiation if needed and at the completion of the study to observe for disease progression. Lab evaluation of virologic and biochemical indicators of the disease and detailed information about risk factors and quality of life will be collected by questionnaire every 6 months. Currently, 95 subjects have been enrolled and 65 subjects are being followed. It is too early to report any conclusions in terms of disease progression and potential contributing factors to disease progression specific to this population, as only 19 subjects (15%) have completed the study. However, trends concerning the decision to treat will be discussed. Therefore, the majority of the data presented in this report will be confined to descriptive statistics of the sample to date.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA462886
Entities
People
- Brooke Huntley
- Maria H. Sjogren