Influence of heterozygous HFE gene mutations on fibrosis progression in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients – a meta-analysis

Introduction: Several lines of evidence suggest that iron overload might promote hepatic fibrogenesis in HCV-infected patients. Consequently, recent studies focussed on the impact of common HFE gene variants (C282Y; H63D) on liver fibrosis in chronic HCV infection, yielding contradictory results. To clarify this issue, our aim was to analyse the available data on the relationship between C282Y and H63D mutations and stages of liver fibrosis. Methods: Studies with data on HFE genotypes and histological stage of liver fibrosis in HCV-infected patients were identified via Medline search. To assess the effect of dif…