Bürgel, B, Friesland, M, Koch, A et al. · Journal of viral hepatitis · 2011 · DOI
This study investigated whether hepatitis C virus (HCV) can infect and replicate in nerve cells, since some HCV patients experience fatigue, depression, and memory problems. Researchers tested whether HCV could enter and survive in different types of brain and nerve cells in the laboratory. They found that HCV could enter one type of peripheral nerve cell, but could not replicate in any of the brain or nerve cell types tested.
Since HCV infection is associated with neurological complications including chronic fatigue, understanding whether HCV directly infects nervous system cells could explain some neurological symptoms in co-infected patients. This research clarifies the potential role of HCV in peripheral versus central nervous system pathology, which may inform understanding of HCV-related fatigue and cognitive dysfunction mechanisms.
This study does not prove that HCV replicates in the brain or causes neurological symptoms through direct CNS infection. The findings are limited to cell culture models and do not establish whether HCV actually reaches or persists in nerve tissues in living patients with chronic HCV infection.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Bürgel, B, Friesland, M, Koch, A, Manns, M P, Wedemeyer, H, Weissenborn, K, et al. (2011). Hepatitis C virus enters human peripheral neuroblastoma cells - evidence for extra-hepatic cells sustaining hepatitis C virus penetration.. Journal of viral hepatitis. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2893.2010.01339.x
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-brgel-2011-hepatitis-virus,
author = {Bürgel, B and Friesland, M and Koch, A and Manns, M P and Wedemeyer, H and Weissenborn, K and Schulz-Schaeffer, W J and Pietschmann, T and Steinmann, E and Ciesek, S},
title = {Hepatitis C virus enters human peripheral neuroblastoma cells - evidence for extra-hepatic cells sustaining hepatitis C virus penetration.},
journal = {Journal of viral hepatitis},
year = {2011},
doi = {10.1111/j.1365-2893.2010.01339.x},
note = {PubMed: 20579278},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/brgel-2011-hepatitis-virus},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/brgel-2011-hepatitis-virus
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