Microbiota of patients infected with HCV

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection progresses chronically through several clinical stages evaluated by liver damage, i.e. persistently normal serum alanine aminotransferase (PNALT), chronic hepatitis (CH), cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Little is known about the relationship between chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and alteration of gut microbiota, although severe liver diseases including cirrhosis and HCC have been thought to be associated with gut dysbiosis. In this study, fecal samples collected from CHC patients were analyzed by high-throughput 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, and compared with healthy individuals.