Researchers have made a significant advance in the understanding of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) by identifying new genetic factors associated with clearing the virus spontaneously without the necessity for additional treatment. Their findings are set out in a paper published in Science magazine today (6 August 2004).Hepatitis C virus infects the liver and leads to serious permanent liver damage. The infection affects about 170 million people worldwide and up to 500,000 people in the UK. Most people who come into contact with HCV contract a long-term or chronic infection and, as a consequence, run a significant risk of liver failure - necessitating liver transplantation - or liver cancer.The new multi-centre study was jointly led by researchers from the University of Southampton’s School of Medicine, the National Genetics Institute, USA, and the Johns Hopkins Hospital, USA. The findings demonstrate that natural killer (NK) cells provide a central defence against HCV infection and that this defence is mediated by specific inhibitory receptors expressed on NK cells and the partners or ligands for these receptors on liver cells.
