A study reveals what hepatitis C’s secret strategy is to evade the immune system

Hepatitis C virus produce infection life-threatening liver.The disease spreads through contact with human blood, and while the immune system may attack the invading virus first, causing mild symptoms such as fever or fatigue, pathogen finally i know hide The immune system then gives up the chase.

This allows time for hepatitis C to replicate and spread in healthy liver cells. Now, researchers at the University of Copenhagen have discovered the secret strategy the virus uses to attack. evade the immune system.

as published in the magazine naturethe virus uses “Closing Strategies”and the “mask” that covers it is molecules already present in the body, which is why “the immune system confuses the virus with a harmless substance that does not require a response.”

Jeppe Vinther, Associate Professor in the Department of Biology, led the study together with Associate Professor Troels Scheel and Professor Jens Bukh from the Hepatitis C Program in Copenhagen.After the discovery, he noted: “How the hepatitis C virus manages to hide in our liver cells from detection by the immune system has been a mystery. Our disclosure of the virus shielding strategy is important because it can provide New approach to treating viral infections. Other types of viruses are likely to use the same trick.

The expert who studies this pathology added: “We have a constant battle with these viruses. We are trying to shoot them down, and they are trying to avoid detection and shoot them down. ” An estimated 50 million people worldwide have been infected chronic hepatitis C.

The hepatitis C virus can cause inflammation and scarring of the liver and, in worst cases, liver cancer. Discovered in 1989, this pathology is one of the most studied bacteria on Earth. However, how it evades the human immune system and spreads in the body has been a mystery for decades.

Hepatitis C is an RNA virus, like the coronavirus and the flu virus. Its genetic material consists of RNA, which must be replicated once the virus enters a host organism in order to invade healthy cells.

For Selina Sagan, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of British Columbia who was not involved in the study, the work reveals “a new strategy that viruses use to hide their antiviral defenses.” “If hepatitis C is doing this, what other viruses are using a similar strategy?” the expert wondered after learning of the discovery.

In fact, Vincer announced that the next step in his investigation would be to Check Out Other RNA Viruses See if they wear similar “masks”. “It is realistic to think that other RNA viruses use similar masking techniques to spread without being detected by cellular control systems,” he said.

“All RNA viruses need to hide from the immune system, and this is likely just the beginning. Now that we have adapted this trick, it opens up the possibility of developing new and perhaps improved methods of tracking and treating viral infections in the future.” Vinther concludes.

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