The multifaceted features of HCV infection beyond the liver

Abstract

A major problem in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections is progression from acute to persistent infection, resulting in development of serious liver diseases including hepatocellular carcinoma. However, HCV infection is a multifaceted disease. Extrahepatic manifestations include cryoglobulinemia, glomerulonephritis, porphyria cutanea tarda, Sjögren’s syndrome, and lymphoma, most of which are evoked by the virus or the interaction thereof with the host immune system. Recently, partly extrahepatic features of HCV infection, including disturbance of lipid metabolism and insulin resistance, have been described. Such metabolic disturbances provoked by HCV are now considered to be essential features of the pathogenesis of liver disease induced by HCV infection. Some of these diseases/syndromes are cured by antiviral treatment. In the present review, the systemic manifestations of HCV infection will be examined and their clinical relevance discussed.