INTRAHEPATIC HEPATITIS C REPLICATION IN PATIENTS WITH AND WITHOUT HIV INFECTION

这个子项目是利用由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供的资源的许多研究子项目之一。子项目和调查员(PI)可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可能会出现在其他CRISE条目中。列出的机构是针对中心的，而不一定是针对调查员的机构。与HIV阴性的人相比，与HIV共同感染的丙型肝炎病毒感染者患肝硬变和肝功能衰竭的风险显著增加。此外，严重的艾滋病毒相关免疫缺陷似乎是晚期肝病的独立预测因素。我们假设免疫缺陷与丙型肝炎病毒复制增强有关，而丙型肝炎病毒复制增加是合并感染患者出现晚期肝病的部分原因。为了验证这些假说，我们将利用一种新的链特异性原位杂交方法来检测来自一组有和没有HIV混合感染的丙型肝炎病毒感染者的肝组织中的HCVRNA。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. HCV-infected individuals who are co-infected with HIV have a significantly increased risk of cirrhosis and liver failure when compared to those who are HIV-negative. Furthermore, severe HIV-related immunodeficiency appears to be an independent predictor of advanced liver disease. We hypothesize that immunodeficiency is associated with enhanced HCV replication, and that increased HCV replication is in part responsible for the advanced liver disease seen in co-infected patients. In order to test these hypotheses, we will utilize a novel, strand-specific in situ hybridization assay for HCV RNA in liver tissue from a well-characterized cohort of HCV-infected subjects with and without HIV co-infection.