| Theme |
Extrahepatic Manifestation in HCV Infection |
| Title |
Possible Contribution of Hepatitis C Virus Infection to the Development of Sjogren's Syndrome |
| Author |
Naohiko Masaki |
Division of Gastroenterology, International Medical Center of Japan |
| Author |
Shigeki Hayashi |
Division of Gastroenterology, International Medical Center of Japan |
| [ Summary ] |
Our epidemiological studies revealed that the prevalence of xerophthalmia or xerostomia increased in parallel with the progression of chronic liver diseases, in patients with hepatitis C viral (HCV) infections. At least 11.2% of patients with Sjogren's syndrome presented HCV viremia with lower frequency of chronic liver diseases than expected. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that HCV is capable of proliferating in the salivary glands, and that most HCV-positive patients with Sjogren's syndrome possess the immune complex for HCV in their sera. Recently, Koike et al, reported that transgenic mice with HCV envelope genes develop sialadenitis, histologically resembling Sjogren's syndrome. All these evidence strongly suggest that HCV infection may be causally related to Sjogren's syndrome-like sialadenitis or Sjogren's syndrome itself. |