Abstract
To better understand the dynamics of early hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, we determined how rapidly non-cirrhotic HCV-uninfected liver allografts clear HCV from the circulation of cirrhotic HCV-infected patients at the time of transplantation but before administration of immunosuppression. Specifically, we characterized serum HCV kinetics during the first 90 min of reperfusion for 19 chronically HCV-infected patients transplanted with an HCV-uninfected liver by measuring serum viral load immediately prior to reperfusion (t = 0) and then every 15 min for a total of 90 min (t = 90). Immunosuppression was withheld until all samples were taken to better model primary infection. During this period, rates of viral clearance varied more than 20-fold with a median rate constant of 0.0357 1/min, range 0.0089–0.2169; half-life (minutes) median 19.4, range 3.2–77.8. The majority of viral clearance occurred within the first 60 min. The amount of blood transfused during this 90-min period (a potential confounding variable of this human liver transplant model of primary infection) accounted for 53% and 59% of k (r = 0.53, p = 0.05) and half-life (r = 0.59, p = 0.03) variability, respectively. No other clinical variables tested (age, allograft weight, and degree of reperfusion injury as assessed by peak postoperative ALT or AST) accounted for the remaining variability (p>0.05). Conclusion: In a human liver transplant model of primary infection, HCV rapidly clears the bloodstream. With approximately 90% of clearance occurring in the first 90 minutes of reperfusion, studies of HCV entry inhibition could utilize rate of clearance during this early period as an outcome measure.
Highlights
The study of hepatitis C virus (HCV) pathogenesis is complicated by the lack of relevant animal models
Garcia-Retortillo et al [7] determined that serum viral levels decrease with reperfusion, and that viral clearance occurred more slowly during reperfusion than during the anhepatic phase
As the only ethical way to infect a human liver in a human patient is by transplanting an HCV-uninfected liver into an HCV-infected recipient, we calculated the rates of viral clearance from the bloodstream during liver transplant as a surrogate for viral entry
Summary
The study of HCV pathogenesis is complicated by the lack of relevant animal models. Chimpanzee, murine, and a murine model with hepatocytes of human origin susceptible to HCV infection have been developed; all have limitations. Very high viral loads at the time of transplant have been shown to predict inferior outcomes [1] This is likely due to a greater viral inoculum, leading to a greater burden of infection and accelerated disease progression analogous to primary infection [2,3,4]. Garcia-Retortillo et al [7] determined that serum viral levels decrease with reperfusion, and that viral clearance occurred more slowly during reperfusion (first sample taken 4 hours after reperfusion) than during the anhepatic phase. The purpose of the current study was to more fully characterize initial HCV clearance by livers by determining the viral kinetics immediately upon allograft reperfusion (first 90 min). To more accurately model primary infection, immunosuppression (including steroids) was withheld until all samples were collected This was a key difference from other published studies on HCV kinetics. The current study significantly adds to the field by fully characterizing the variability of initial viral clearance in the absence of immunosuppression
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