%0 Journal Article %A Hetta, Helal F. %A Mekky, Mohamed A. %A Khalil, Nasr K. %A Mohamed, Wegdan A. %A El-Feky, Mohamed A. %A Ahmed, Shabaan H. %A Daef, Enas A. %A Medhat, Ahmed %A Nassar, Mahmoud I. %A Sherman, Kenneth E. %A Shata, Mohamed Tarek M. %T Extra-hepatic infection of hepatitis C virus in the colon tissue and its relationship with hepatitis C virus pathogenesis %D 2016 %J Journal of Medical Microbiology, %V 65 %N 8 %P 703-712 %@ 1473-5644 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.000272 %K HCV %K Extra-hepatic infection %K HCV NS3 %K Liver pathology. %I Microbiology Society, %X Extra-hepatic compartments might contribute to hepatitis C virus (HCV) persistence and extra-hepatic manifestations. Therefore, we investigated HCV infection in colonic tissue in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and its relationship with HCV pathogenesis. Colonic biopsies were collected from three groups with CHC infection: treatment naïve (TN; n=12), non-responders (NR; n=10) to anti-HCV therapy (pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin) and sustained virologic response (SVR; n=10) and from a fourth healthy control group (n=10). Liver biopsies were examined to assess inflammation and fibrosis. HCV infection and colonic T regulatory (Treg) frequency were detected by immunohistochemistry. HCV core and NS3 proteins were detected in B cells and macrophage/monocytes of 42 % and 25 % of TN and 50 % and 30 % of NR, respectively, but not in SVR or control group. The numbers of cells expressing HCV proteins were positively correlated with both HCV viral load and colonic Treg frequency. A significant negative correlation between HCV-expressing cells with both liver inflammation and fibrosis was identified. Our study provides evidence that HCV can infect B cells and macrophages of the colon. The correlations between HCV infection in colonic tissue and HCV viral load and liver pathology underline the significance of this extra-hepatic infection in HCV pathogenesis and response to therapy. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.000272