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Preserved cognitive function was associated with increased microglia activation with predominance in the basal ganglia in patients with HCV, according to recent findings published in Journal of Viral Hepatitis.
“This study evaluates microglia activation in HCV-infected patients with only mild liver disease in context of absence or presence of chronic fatigue, mood disturbances, history of interferon therapy and cognitive dysfunction, using the binding of [11C]-PK11195 to the TSPO receptor,” the researchers wrote. “The TSPO receptor is located on the outer mitochondrial membrane of microglia, astrocytes and endothelial cells.”
About 50% of patients with HCV also develop chronic fatigue and deficits in concentration, attention and memory. These symptoms are independent of liver disease grade and virus replication rate. Because HCV can infect monocytes and macrophages, it could use the immune system to migrate over the blood brain barrier to infect the brain. In fact, HCV replication was found in the microglia, which contains the immune competent cells of the brain. The researchers aimed to determine whether neuropsychiatric symptoms or cognitive dysfunction in HCV-infected patients are related to microglia activation and whether microglia activation differs between HCV polymerase chain reaction positive and negative as well as patients with and without a history of an interferon therapy.