已知丙型肝炎病毒(HCV)感染的后果是慢性肝炎,肝硬变和肝细胞癌(HCC),但HCV致肝损害的机理却不甚清楚。有学者指出,HCV可直接损害肝细胞,但在人群中存在许多转氨酶(ALT)正常的无症状HCV携带者,这又提示HCV可间接通过免疫系统损害肝脏。为证实在无症状HCV携带者和慢性丙型肝炎患者之间病毒学差异,作者检测了日本某农村地区306例慢性HCV感染 The consequences of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are known to be chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the mechanism by which HCV causes liver damage is poorly understood. Some scholars have pointed out that HCV can directly damage liver cells, but there are many normal asymptomatic HCV carriers in the human population that are transaminase (ALT), which in turn suggests that HCV may damage the liver indirectly through the immune system. To confirm the difference in virology between asymptomatic HCV carriers and patients with chronic hepatitis C, the authors tested 306 chronic HCV infections in a rural area of ​​Japan