Microbiota and HCV Infection Interplay

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is held responsible for about 17.5% of acute hepatitis cases and after acute infection, roughly 65% of patients develops a chronic infection. Intestinal microbiota’s relevance in the pathogenesis of HCV-induced chronic liver diseases is a promising topic within scientific community. Anyway, its role in chronic HCV infection is still not completely unraveled and it needs more detailed investigations. Although results on relationships standing between human microbiota and HCV infections are lacking, the few published articles are highly inspirational for both further studies and theoretical researches, giving a starting substrate to hypothesize the mechanisms underlying the relationships between microbiota and HCV in the context of gut-liver axis. The aim of this short review is to summarize the state of the art of microbiota/HCV interactions and possibily give a novel point of view based on the articles’ conclusions, using an eagle-eye perspective that will allow to open a door to new research studies concerning HCV infections