Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63104, USA.
J Clin Virol. 2011 Dec;52(4):333-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2011.08.022. Epub 2011 Sep 17.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a well-documented etiological factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). As HCV shows remarkable genetic diversity, an interesting and important issue is whether such a high viral genetic diversity plays a role in the incidence of HCC. Prior data on this subject are conflicting.
Potential association between HCV genetic mutations or strain variability and HCC incidence has been examined through a comparative genetic analysis merely focused on a single HCV subtype (genotype 4a) in a single country (Egypt).
The study focused on three HCV sequence datasets with explicit sampling dates and disease patterns. An overlapping HCV Core/E1 domain from three datasets was used as the target for comparative analysis through genetic and phylogenetic approaches.
Based on partial Core/E1 domain (387 bp), genetic and phylogenetic analysis did not identify any HCC-specific viral mutations and strains, respectively.
The Core/E1 domain of HCV genotype 4a in Egypt does not contain HCC-specific mutations or strains. Additionally, sequence errors resulting from the polymerase chain reaction, together with a strong evolutionary pressure on HCV in patients with end-stage liver disease, have significant potential to bias data generation and interpretation.
丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）感染是肝细胞癌（HCC）的一个有充分记录的病因。由于 HCV 具有显著的遗传多样性，一个有趣且重要的问题是这种高病毒遗传多样性是否在 HCC 的发生中起作用。关于这个主题的先前数据存在冲突。
通过仅针对单一国家（埃及）的单一 HCV 亚型（基因型 4a）进行比较遗传分析，研究 HCV 遗传突变或株变异性与 HCC 发生率之间的潜在关联。
该研究集中在三个具有明确采样日期和疾病模式的 HCV 序列数据集上。使用来自三个数据集的重叠 HCV Core/E1 结构域作为目标，通过遗传和系统发育方法进行比较分析。
基于部分 Core/E1 结构域（387 bp），遗传和系统发育分析分别未鉴定出任何 HCC 特异性病毒突变和株。
埃及 HCV 基因型 4a 的 Core/E1 结构域不包含 HCC 特异性突变或株。此外，聚合酶链反应导致的序列错误，以及终末期肝病患者 HCV 所受到的强烈进化压力，具有显著的潜在偏倚数据生成和解释的能力。
