Elsevier

The Lancet

Volume 358, Issue 9275, 7 July 2001, Pages 38-39
The Lancet

Research Letters
Evidence for a cerebral effect of the hepatitis C virus

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(00)05270-3Get rights and content

Summary

Patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection frequently complain of symptoms akin to the chronic fatigue syndrome and score worse on health-related quality of life indices than matched controls. We address the hypothesis that HCV itself affects cerebral function. Using proton magnetic-resonance spectroscopy we have shown elevations in basal ganglia and white matter choline/creatine ratios in patients with histologically-mild hepatitis C, compared with healthy volunteers and patients with hepatitis B. This elevation is unrelated to hepatic encephalopathy or a history of intravenous drug abuse, and suggests that a biological process underlies the extrahepatic symptoms in chronic HCV infection.

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