Hepatitis C in African Americans

African Americans, with treatment failure rates at about 80%, remain one of the most difficult patient groups in which to eradicate hepatitis C. Infection morbidity in this patient population is compounded by limitations on access to specialist care. Preliminary data regarding liver transplantation even suggest that African Americans, relative to Caucasians, have worse outcomes after liver transplantation. Hence, a priority in hepatitis C research remains studying the immunologic mechanisms that affect host-virus interaction and their relevance to viral persistence and interferon response. In this review, we emphasize recent literature related to the sociologic, immunologic, and metabolic mechanisms that underlie the racial decrements in hepatitis C outcomes in African Americans.