The potential role of hepatitis C virus in the pathogenesis of the neurological syndrome in chronic hepatitis C

• DOI: 10.1136/gut.41.3.411
• Publication Date: 2010-06-30T16:46:12Z
• Authors: C Caudai; D Maimone; P Almi; P Annunziata; I Bastianoni; C A Boggiano; G C Guazzi; M Padula; P E Valensin
• Keywords: Male; RT-PCR; Hepacivirus; Antibodies, Viral; Hepatitis C; Polymerase Chain Reaction; cerebrospinal fluid; 3. Good health; Immunoenzyme Techniques; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; hepatitis C viru; Humans; RNA, Viral; Neurons, Afferent; Nervous System Diseases; hepatitis C virus; RT-PCR; cerebrospinal fluid; Aged; Hepatitis, Chronic

A 72 year old man developed chronic sensory neuropathy (CSN) during chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infection. Neurological symptoms began one year after acute HCV hepatitis and slowly worsened over three years. No conventional cause for CSN was found. Circulating antinervous tissue antibodies (including anti-Hu) and inflammatory infiltrates in sural nerve biopsy specimens were absent. However, the presence of anti-HCV antibody and HCV-RNA in cerebrospinal fluid indicated that HCV had reached the intrathecal compartment, suggesting the direct viral involvement in the pathogenesis of CSN.