RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Gambato, Martina A1 Gregori, Josep A1 Quer, Josep A1 Koutsoudakis, George A1 González, Patricia A1 Caro-Pérez, Noelia A1 García-Cehic, Damir A1 García-González, Neris A1 González-Candelas, Fernando A1 Esteban, Juan Ignacio A1 Crespo, Gonzalo A1 Navasa, Miquel A1 Forns, Xavier A1 Pérez-del-Pulgar, SofíaYR 2019 T1 Hepatitis C virus intrinsic molecular determinants may contribute to the development of cholestatic hepatitis after liver transplantation JF Journal of General Virology, VO 100 IS 1 SP 63 OP 68 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.001175 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2099, AB Cholestatic hepatitis C (CHC) is a severe form of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection recurrence that leads to high graft loss rates early after liver transplantation (LT). To investigate the pathogenic mechanisms of CHC, we analysed HCV quasispecies in CHC patients compared to a control group (mild hepatitis C recurrence) by deep pyrosequencing. At the time of LT, NS5B quasispecies complexity was similar between the two groups but, after LT, it decreased more sharply in CHC patients than in the control group. Interestingly, the major variant before LT propagated efficiently and remained as the dominant sequence after LT in 62 % of CHC patients versus 11 % of controls (P=0.031). Sequence analysis of the complete non-structural region in a limited number of patients revealed a potential 12 aa signature specific to the CHC group. These data suggest that intrinsic molecular determinants in the circulating HCV quasispecies may provide a fitness advantage, contributing to the development of CHC., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/jgv.0.001175