Koike Kazuhiko
Department of Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8655, Japan.
Intervirology. 2006;49(1-2):51-7. doi: 10.1159/000087263.
Although hepatitis C virus (HCV) targets the liver, it has become increasingly evident that HCV can induce diseases of many organs. Recently, much attention is drawn to metabolic disorders in HCV infection. First, hepatic steatosis and derangement in lipid metabolism have been found characteristic of HCV infection, and later on, a correlation was noted between HCV infection and diabetes as well as insulin resistance. We have demonstrated that HCV by itself can induce insulin resistance through disturbing the insulin signaling pathway by HCV proteins. The fact that HCV infection induces insulin resistance by the virus itself may influence the progression of chronic liver disease and open up novel therapeutic approaches. In conclusion, towards the future, HCV infection needs to be viewed not only as a liver disease but also as a metabolic disease.
尽管丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）以肝脏为靶点，但越来越明显的是，HCV可诱发许多器官的疾病。最近，HCV感染中的代谢紊乱受到了广泛关注。首先，已发现肝脂肪变性和脂质代谢紊乱是HCV感染的特征，随后，人们注意到HCV感染与糖尿病以及胰岛素抵抗之间存在关联。我们已经证明，HCV自身可通过其蛋白干扰胰岛素信号通路来诱导胰岛素抵抗。HCV感染由病毒自身诱导胰岛素抵抗这一事实可能会影响慢性肝病的进展，并开辟新的治疗方法。总之，展望未来，HCV感染不仅应被视为一种肝脏疾病，还应被视为一种代谢疾病。
