Influence of chronic alcohol abuse on hepatitis C virus replication

Background: Patients with alcoholic liver disease have a high prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, Several workers have shown that HCV-inf ected alcoholics have more severe biochemical and histological evidence of liver disease than anti-HCV-negative patients, One possible mechanism for t he increased liver damage is that alcohol may have a stimulatory effect on HCV replication. The present study was carried out to examine this issue in detail. Methods: Sixty-eight HCV-infected patients, comprising of 50 chron ic alcoholics, consuming 80 g or more of alcohol daily for at least 5 years , and 18 completely abstinent subjects were included in the study. Quantita tive HCV-RNA was performed by the branched chain DNA (bDNA) technique. Resu lts: There was no significant difference in the mean serum HCV titers in ch ronic alcoholics compared to nonalcoholic subjects. Linear regression analy sis showed no correlation between the daily ethanol consumption and HCV tit ers. Seven of the chronic alcoholics, 4 of whom were continuing to drink an d 3 who had become abstinent, were retested after 6 months. There was no de finite trend in the viral titers, either in abstinent individuals or in tho se who continued to drink. Conclusions:These findings suggest that chronic alcohol abuse does not influence the HCV load in the serum. Therefore, the observation that alcoholics with HCV infection have more severe liver damag e requires some other explanation than increased HCV viral titers. Copyrigh t (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.