Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol. 2012 Jan-Mar;25(1):293-6. doi: 10.1177/039463201202500134.
The role played by HCV in the genesis of many autoimmune disorders has been reported in several studies. In particular, the onset of arthritis has been described in about 2-3 percent of HCV infection cases. At present, this HCV-related arthritis is classified as a reactive arthritis, but a real distinction of this form from classical rheumatoid arthritis is often difficult. In this presentation, the Authors distinguish two arthritic forms observed in HCV-related arthritis patients: one, characterized by asymmetrical oligoarticular-involvement, and another, with poly-articular symmetrical involvement. The Authors suggest that the latter can be considered as a form of rheumatoid arthritis, because of the similarity of the main clinical aspects and laboratory findings (rheumatoid factor, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies) to those of classical rheumatoid arthritis, which make the two forms indistinguishable. Therefore, HCV could be considered the etiologic agent of a limited number of cases of rheumatoid arthritis.
已有多项研究报道了 HCV 在许多自身免疫性疾病发病机制中的作用。特别是，约有 2-3%的 HCV 感染病例出现了关节炎。目前，这种 HCV 相关性关节炎被归类为反应性关节炎，但这种形式与经典类风湿关节炎的真正区别通常很难确定。在本次演讲中，作者区分了 HCV 相关性关节炎患者中观察到的两种关节炎形式：一种以不对称寡关节炎受累为特征，另一种以多关节炎对称性受累为特征。作者认为，由于后者的主要临床方面和实验室发现（类风湿因子、抗环瓜氨酸肽抗体）与经典类风湿关节炎相似，因此可以将其视为类风湿关节炎的一种形式，这两种形式难以区分。因此，HCV 可能被认为是少数类风湿关节炎病例的病因。
