Approximately 3.9 million Americans are chronically infected with the Hepatitis C virus for which there is no vaccine - and almost one-third of all liver transplants are due to HCV-related chronic liver disease. In the face of such need, the University of Virginia's Beirne B. Carter Center was awarded a $660,000 grant from the Ralph and Marion Falk Medical Research Trust to study HCV.
Carter, a Virginia businessman, founded the center eight years ago to develop new ways to diagnose and treat human diseases.
Hepatitis C, a viral infection of the liver, typically is spread through contaminated blood. It is not known exactly how HCV destroys the liver, but the prolonged clearance or dissipation of the virus from the blood occurs in only 10 to 40 percent of patients. If the virus is not completely cleared from the blood, any transplanted healthy liver is almost certain to become inflamed.
Principal investigators of this grant are Dr.s Young Hahn, Ron Taylor, Director of Transplantation Timothy Pruett, and Carter Center Director Thomas J. Braciale. Together they plan to explore the virus' mechanism of action, ways to eradicate the virus from the blood, strategies toward a HCV vaccine and ways to keep newly transplanted livers from becoming infected. Eventually, and with the help of collaborators from around the world, they foresee an International Hepatitis C Research Center.
"Understanding this mechanism is critical", Hahn said.
Cirrhosis, the scarring of the liver as a result of dead liver cells, is an example of how many of the symptoms and injuries from viral infections are a result of the host's response, not the actual virus.
Taylor works on developing a general method for clearing blood-borne pathogens from circulation while Pruett specializes in the transplant itself.
The grant terms allow the scientists to use the entire grant amount toward research. Initially, most of the money should go toward "basic research such as maintaining labs, purchasing lab equipment, animals, and paying personnel," Braciale said.
Currently, those infected with HCV are treated with interferon, which are proteins that fight alien invaders when a cell is invaded. Ribavirin, an anti-viral agent administered with inteferon, is a new treatment on the market.
Symptoms of HCV infection usually appear about seven to eight weeks after infection and include mild flu-like symptoms like nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite, fever, headaches and abdominal pain. Most people infected with HCV do not show symptoms immediately.
Although a Hepatitis C vaccine is not currently available, Student Health Services offers Hepatitis A and B vaccines for $120 and $150 respectively.
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