Perinatal transmission and viral evolution of hepatitis C virus quasispecies in infants coinfected with HIV

Vertical Transmission of Hepatitis C Virus: Variable Transmission Bottleneck and Evidence of Midgestation In Utero Infection

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) can be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy and childbirth. However, the timing and precise biological mechanisms that are involved in this process are incompletely understood, as are the determinants that influence transmission of particular HCV variants. Here we report results of a longitudinal assessment of HCV quasispecies diversity and composition in 5 cases of vertical HCV transmission, including 3 women coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). The population structure of HCV variant spectra based on E2 envelope gene sequences (nucleotide positions 1491 to 1787), including hypervariable regions 1 and 2, was characterized using next-generation sequencing and median-joining network analysis. Compatible with a loose transmission bottleneck, larger numbers of shared HCV variants were observed in the presence of maternal coinfection. Coalescent Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations revealed median times of transmission between 24.9 weeks and 36.1 weeks of gestation, with some confidence intervals ranging into the 1st trimester, considerably earlier than previously thought. Using recombinant autologous HCV pseudoparticles, differences were uncovered in HCV-specific antibody responses between coinfected mothers and mothers infected with HCV alone, in whom generalized absence of neutralization was observed. Finally, shifts in HCV quasispecies composition were seen in children around 1 year of age, compatible with the disappearance of passively transferred maternal immunoglobulins and/or the development of HCV-specific humoral immunity. Taken together, these results provide insights into the timing, dynamics, and biologic mechanisms involved in vertical HCV transmission and inform preventative strategies.IMPORTANCE Although it is well established that hepatitis C virus (HCV) can be transmitted from mother to child, the manner and the moment at which transmission operates have been the subject of conjecture. By carrying out a detailed examination of viral sequences, we showed that transmission could take place comparatively early in pregnancy. In addition, we showed that when the mother also carried human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), many more HCV variants were shared between her and her child, suggesting that the mechanism and/or the route of transmission of HCV differed in the presence of coinfection with HIV-1. These results could explain why cesarean section is ineffective in preventing vertical HCV transmission and guide the development of interventions to avert pediatric HCV infection.

Vertically acquired hepatitis C virus infection: Correlates of transmission and disease progression

The worldwide prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in children is 0.05%-0.4% in developed countries and 2%-5% in resource-limited settings, where inadequately tested blood products or un-sterile medical injections still remain important routes of infection. After the screening of blood donors, mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HCV has become the leading cause of pediatric infection, at a rate of 5%. Maternal HIV co-infection is a significant risk factor for MTCT and anti-HIV therapy during pregnancy seemingly can reduce the transmission rate of both viruses. Conversely, a high maternal viral load is an important, but not preventable risk factor, because at present no anti-HCV treatment can be administered to pregnant women to block viral replication. Caution is needed in adopting obstetric procedures, such as amniocentesis or internal fetal monitoring, that can favor fetal exposure to HCV contaminated maternal blood, though evidence is lacking on the real risk of single obstetric practices. Mode of delivery and type of feeding do not represent significant risk factors for MTCT. Therefore, there is no reason to offer elective caesarean section or discourage breast-feeding to HCV infected parturients. Information on the natural history of vertical HCV infection is limited. The primary infection is asymptomatic in infants. At least one quarter of infected children shows a spontaneous viral clearance (SVC) that usually occurs within 6 years of life. IL-28B polymorphims and genotype 3 infection have been associated with greater chances of SVC. In general, HCV progression is mild or moderate in children with chronic infection who grow regularly, though cases with marked liver fibrosis or hepatic failure have been described. Non-organ specific autoantibodies and cryoglobulins are frequently found in children with chronic infection, but autoimmune diseases or HCV associated extrahepatic manifestations are rare.

Occurrence of genetic modifications in core, 5'UTR and NS5b of HCV associated with viral response to treatment

Background

It is becoming progressively more understandable that genetic variability of viruses is a major challenge in translating the laboratory findings to clinic. Genetic variability is the underlying cause of variant viral proteins which are not targetable by host immunological machinery.

Methods

500 patients were enrolled in study and amongst them, 451 patients were followed and categorized into two groups on the basis of their treatment response. Group 1 consisting of the 376 patients exhibited SVR while group 2 comprised 75 patients who were non-responders on the basis of viral load as evidenced by Real-Time PCR. Comparative sequence analysis was done between 75 non-responders and 75 responders (randomly picked from 376) by targeting three genomic regions, 5′UTR, core and NS5B and amplified products were directly sequenced and obtained sequences were cleaned, aligned and submitted to GenBank. Maximum Parsimony (MP) method was used for phylogenetic analysis and dendrograms were dragged using MEGA 5. Heterogeneity at nucleotide and amino acid level was determined using software BioEdit and DNAman while phosphorylation and N-linked glycosylation sites were determined using NetPhos 2.0 and SignalP-NN.

Results

Genotype 3 was prevalent in group 1 whereas non-responders indicated rare genotypes of Pakistan i.e. 4 and 5, genotype 6q and 6v were reported first time from Pakistan in this study. At nucleotide and amino acid level, the genetic distance and mutation, number of predicted N-phosphorylation and N-glycosylation sites was higher in group 2 as compared to group 1. Difference in percentage composition of individual amino acids was noted to be different between the two groups.

Conclusions

It can be concluded that heterogeneity both at nucleotide and amino acid level contributed in developing drug resistant phenotype. Moreover, occurrence of rare genotypes might hurdle the way to positive response of conventional treatment. Furthermore, prediction of phosphorylation and glycosylation sites could help in targeting the proper sites for drug designing.

Pathogenesis of hepatitis C during pregnancy and childhood

The worldwide prevalence of HCV infection is between 1% and 8% in pregnant women and between 0.05% and 5% in children. Yet the pathogenesis of hepatitis C during pregnancy and in the neonatal period remains poorly understood. Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT), a leading cause of pediatric HCV infection, takes place at a rate of <10%. Factors that increase the risk of MTCT include high maternal HCV viral load and coinfection with HIV-1 but, intriguingly, not breastfeeding and mode of delivery. Pharmacological prevention of MTCT is not possible at the present time because both pegylated interferon alfa and ribavirin are contraindicated for use in pregnancy and during the neonatal period. However, this may change with the recent introduction of direct acting antiviral agents. This review summarizes what is currently known about HCV infection during pregnancy and childhood. Particular emphasis is placed on how pregnancy-associated immune modulation may influence the progression of HCV disease and impact MTCT, and on the differential evolution of perinatally acquired HCV infection in children. Taken together, these developments provide insights into the pathogenesis of hepatitis C and may inform strategies to prevent the transmission of HCV from mother to child.

Evolution of hepatitis C virus hypervariable region 1 in immunocompetent children born to HCV-infected mothers

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) is the most variable region of the viral genome and its heterogeneity reflects the virus-host interplay during chronicity. Paediatric HCV-infected patients develop liver disease with typical clinical features. Here, the evolution of HVR1 and its adjacent regions were ascertained in plasma samples of two HCV-positive children during a 5-year follow-up period. We report an almost complete conservation of the HVR1 amino acid sequence over time, with underlying nucleotide variability both within and outside HVR1, suggesting some kind of constraint on virus evolution, particularly within HVR1. Although overall d(N)/d(S) rates [rates of nonsynonymous nucleotide substitutions per nonsynonymous site (d(N)) and synonymous nucleotide substitutions per synonymous site (d(S))] were <1 in both patients, a high resolution analysis of selection pressures exerted at the codon level revealed few sites subject to selection and an absolute predominance of invariable positions within HVR1. The HVR1 amino acid sequences showed the antigenic properties expected for this region. Taken together, these data suggest peculiar evolutionary dynamics in our patients, which could be attributed to a mechanism of nucleotide invariability along with purifying selection operating on the HVR1. The lack of HVR1 variability may reflect the adaptation of the virus to a particular environment within each patient or a phenomenon of immune tolerance generated in these immunocompetent patients earlier in life.

HCV quasispecies evolution during treatment with interferon alfa-2b and ribavirin in two children coinfected with HCV and HIV-1

Two children who acquired hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection by mother-to-child transmission were monitored during interferon alfa-2b and ribavirin treatment. In Patient C1, CD4(+) T cell counts were within normal range and HIV-1 viral load was undetectable. HCV viral load declined slightly following treatment initiation while novel variants rapidly emerged, indicative of quasispecies diversification. In Patient C2, CD4(+) T cell counts were low and HIV-1 replication was not fully controlled by antiretroviral therapy. HCV viral load rose during treatment and a striking conservation of the variant spectrum was observed. In both cases, there was no decline in quasispecies complexity following treatment initiation and sustained virological response was not achieved. These results suggest that reduction in quasispecies complexity, which is observed in adult responders following interferon treatment, may be mechanistically unrelated with evolution of the variant profile and/or selective pressure exerted on HCV.

Evolution of hepatitis C viral quasispecies and hepatic injury in perinatally infected children followed prospectively

Perinatal infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is characterized by a wide range of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. The mechanisms responsible for this variability are unknown. We examined whether the evolution of the HCV quasispecies was associated with different ALT profiles in perinatally infected children. Sequences within HCV envelope 1 and 2 genes, inclusive of the hypervariable region 1, the viral load, and the nascent humoral immunity were analyzed in serial serum samples from 12 perinatally infected children prospectively followed for a median of 53 months. These patients were selected to represent two different ALT patterns during the first year of life: 6 had high levels (maximum values ranging from 4.2 to 30 times the normal upper limit), and 6 had normal or slightly elevated levels (< 2 times the normal upper limit). Two patterns of viral evolution were identified according to the ALT profiles. Biochemical evidence of hepatic injury was invariably associated with a mono- or oligoclonal viral population, whereas mild or no liver damage correlated with the early emergence of a heterogeneous viral quasispecies. Consistent with selective immune pressure, amino acid changes occurred almost exclusively within the hypervariable region 1 and were temporally associated with antibody seroconversion; at this time, the difference in genetic diversity between the two groups was highly significant (P = 0.002). The two patterns of viral evolution persisted over time and did not correlate with viral load or genotype. Our study demonstrates that, in perinatally infected children, the evolution of HCV quasispecies correlates with hepatic injury. The sequences reported in this paper have been deposited in the GenBank database (accession nos. DQ 504441-DQ 507112).

Wide range of quasispecies diversity during primary hepatitis C virus infection

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections may be initiated by multiple infectious particles, resulting in a genetically heterogeneous viral population, or by a single particle, leading to a clonal population in the initial stage of infection. To determine which of these scenarios is most common, we evaluated the genetic diversity of HCV quasispecies in 12 seronegative subjects with primary infection following community exposures, six acutely infected recipients of HCV-seropositive blood transfusions and six seropositive individuals with infections of undetermined durations. RNA isolated from plasma and a region of the HCV envelope gene including the first hypervariable region (HVR-1) was reverse transcription-PCR amplified and subcloned, and multiple plasmid clones were sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that all HCV variants clustered by individuals. Genetic distances among HCV variants within recently infected subjects ranged from 1 to 7.8%. On the basis of the estimated mutation rate of HCV in vivo and the Taq polymerase error rate, primary infection viral quasispecies were classified as genetically heterogeneous when the maximum sequence divergence between genetic variants in the same person was >3%. Heterogeneous quasispecies were detected in 4 of 12 preseroconversion subjects, 1 of 6 transfusion recipients, and 4 of 6 seropositive subjects. The high level of viral quasispecies genetic diversity found in at least a third of recently infected individuals is consistent with the transmission of multiple infectious particles. Community-acquired HCV infection, predominantly the result of needle sharing by injection drug users, therefore appears to be frequently initiated by the successful transmission of multiple viral variants.