Affiliation:
1. Umm-Al-Qura University,Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology,Makkah,Saudi Arabia,
2. The Islamia University of Bahawalpur,Department of Pharmacology,Bahawalpur,Pakistan,
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) interaction with host cells is pivotal for natural
disease course starting from asymptomatic acute infection to progress into persistent
chronic infection and subsequent extrahepatic manifestations, including fibrosis,
cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The HCV infection biology in infected
host cells via virus attachment, virus genome replication, mRNA translation, new
virion formation, and egress from infected cells involves highly coordinated
participation of the virus- and host-specific proteins, a plethora of genes, and cell
signaling cascade. The progression of persistent chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection to
hepatic fibrosis, cirrhosis, and HCC involves viral invasion strategies against host
immune system defense mechanisms as well as impeding healthy metabolic and
signaling networks of the liver cells. Thereby, HCV-induced liver injury via chronic
inflammatory processes that fail to resolve is responsible for decompensated cirrhosis
and on occasion, hepatocarcinogenesis in infected individuals. With the latest
advancement and rapid expansion of our knowledge in hepatology, the human liver is
deciphered as an immunologically distinct organ with its specialized physiological
niche. The relationship between human hepatocytes and different components of the
immune system is quite complex and dynamic. The immunopathogenesis of various
viral infections demonstrates that the immune system plays an essential role to
determine the progression of many hepatic diseases through immune cell
communication and cell signaling networks. In this book chapter, we overview HCV host interactions and their intricate interplay with complex crosstalk to propagate less
fetal acute HCV infection to CHC and subsequent hepatocarcinogenesis (i.e. HCC) in
infected individuals.<br>
Publisher
BENTHAM SCIENCE PUBLISHERS