Center for Autoimmune Liver Diseases, Division of Internal Medicine, IRCCS (Istituto Di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico) Istituto Clinico Humanitas, 20089 Rozzano, Italy.
Clin Sci (Lond). 2011 Apr;120(7):285-6. doi: 10.1042/CS20100553.
HCV (hepatitis C virus) represents one of the major health problems worldwide, as almost 170 million people are infected and most of these develop a chronic disease, often with the progression to cirrhosis and its complications. In the present issue of Clinical Science, Iwata and co-workers report an association between a variant of a gene regulating bile acid levels, ABCB11 1331T>C (where ABCB11 encodes ATP-binding cassette, subfamily B, member 11), and the progression to cirrhosis in patients with HCV, but not in fatty liver patients. They correlate this genetic variant with increased serum bile acid levels as a marker of cholestasis. These findings have important implications for researchers working to dissect the molecular mechanisms underlying liver fibrogenesis and disease progression; however, the implications for clinical hepatologists are less immediate.
丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）是全球主要健康问题之一，全球约有 1.7 亿人感染 HCV，其中大多数人患有慢性疾病，且常常发展为肝硬化及其并发症。在本期《临床科学》中，岩田及其同事报告了调节胆汁酸水平的基因 ABCB11 1331T>C 变体（其中 ABCB11 编码 ATP 结合盒，亚家族 B，成员 11）与 HCV 患者肝硬化进展之间的关联，但与非脂肪性肝病患者无关。他们将这种遗传变异与作为胆汁淤积标志物的血清胆汁酸水平升高相关联。这些发现对研究人员深入研究肝纤维化和疾病进展的分子机制具有重要意义；然而，对临床肝胆病学家的影响则不那么直接。
