Skip Navigation



Rheumatology Advance Access published online on June 12, 2007
Rheumatology, doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kem132
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
46/8/1234    most recent
kem132v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Saadoun, D.
Right arrow Articles by Cacoub, P. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Saadoun, D.
Right arrow Articles by Cacoub, P. P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Review

Hepatitis C-associated mixed cryoglobulinaemia: a crossroad between autoimmunity and lymphoproliferation

D. Saadoun1,2, D. A. Landau1,2, L. H. Calabrese3 and P. P. Cacoub1,2

1Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, CNRS, UMR 7087 2AP-HP, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Service de Médecine Interne, Paris, F-75013 France 3Department of Rheumatic and Immunologic Diseases, Cleveland Clinic Lerner, Cleveland, OH, USA

Correspondence to: Prof. Patrice Cacoub, MD, PhD, AP-HP, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Service de Médecine Interne, Paris, F-75013 France. E-mail: patrice.cacoub{at}psl.aphp.fr


  Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the second most common chronic viral infection in the world with a global prevalence of about 2%. Chronic HCV infection is commonly associated with a number of extrahepatic complications. Circulating mixed cryoglobulins (MCs) are detected in 40–60% of HCV-infected patients whereas overt cryoglobulinaemia vasculitis develops in only 5–10% of the cases. MC reflects the expansion of B cells producing a pathogenic IgM with rheumatoid factor (RF) activity. Because cryoglobulin-producing B cells in HCV are mostly monoclonal, HCV-associated MC can be viewed as a benign B cell lymphoproliferative condition. The disease expression of MC vasculitis is variable, ranging from mild clinical symptoms (purpura, arthralgia) to fulminant life-threatening complications (glomerulonephritis, widespread vasculitis). The overall risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in patients with HCV-MC is estimated to be 35 times higher than that in the general population. This review will focus on recent advances in our understanding of the clinical course, complications, pathophysiology and treatment of those immune-mediated disorders.

KEY WORDS: HCV infection, Mixed cryoglobulinaemia, Vasculitis, Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Submitted 7 January 2007; revised version accepted 11 April 2007.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Clin. Chem.Home page
K. L. Schnabl, M. Sibbald, W. L. Gold, P. C. Chan, and K. Adeli
A Patient with a Leg Rash, Pedal Edema, Renal Failure, and Thrombocytopenia
Clin. Chem., July 1, 2009; 55(7): 1419 - 1422.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Clin. Pathol.Home page
D S Viswanatha and A Dogan
Hepatitis C virus and lymphoma
J. Clin. Pathol., December 1, 2007; 60(12): 1378 - 1383.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.