It doesn’t happen quite often that you can merge your professional interests in science with The Rolling Stones, but it did happen to my team, which works on hepatitis C, its epidemiology, diagnostics, prevention, and treatment. Spontaneous clearance of hepatitis C virus (HCV), i.e., elimination of the virus without any treatment, is a rare event, estimated to affect approximately 15-25% of those infected. In others, the infection progresses to chronic hepatitis C, which is an insidious condition, as it can be asymptomatic for many years, eventually leading to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. In his autobiography “Life”, Keith recollects being diagnosed as infected with HCV and clearing this infection without any treatment, i.e., experiencing spontaneous HCV clearance. As he writes, “I cured myself of hepatitis C without even bothering to do anything about it”.

Keith’s story inspired us to review the existing data on spontaneous HCV clearance, its prevalence, and demographic, clinical and genetic factors influencing the odds of it happening. Our work, entitled “Like a Rolling Stone? A Review on Spontaneous Clearance of Hepatitis C Virus Infection” has been recently published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Viruses and has been dedicated to Keith Richards as stated in the Acknowledgments: “This paper is dedicated to Keith Richards, the Rolling Stones’ immortal riffmaster, a constant reminder that music is a necessity of life and living proof that no obstacle is insurmountable.”.

Like a Rolling Stone? A Review on Spontaneous Clearance of Hepatitis C Virus Infection
By Piotr Rzymski, Michal Brzdek, Krystyna Dobrowolska, Barbara Poniedzialek, Aleksandra Murawska-Ochab, Dorota Zarebska-Michaluk and Robert Flisiak

Abstract
Elimination of hepatitis C virus (HCV) without the need for medical intervention, known as spontaneous clearance (SC), occurs at a significantly lower rate than in the case of hepatitis B virus infection and only in selected individuals, such as reportedly in Keith Richards, a guitarist of The Rolling Stones. The present paper provides an updated narrative review of the research devoted to the phenomenon in order to identify and discuss the demographic, lifestyle-related, clinical, viral genotype-related, and host genetic factors underpinning the SC occurrence. The body of evidence indicates that the likelihood of SC is decreased in older individuals, men, Black people, HIV-coinfected subjects, and intravenous drug and alcohol users. In turn, HBV coinfection and specific polymorphism of the genes encoding interferon lambda 3 (particularly at rs8099917) and interferon lambda 4 (particularly at rs12979860) and HLA genes increase the odds of SC. Numerous other host-specific genetic factors could be implicated in SC, but the evidence is limited only to certain ethnic groups and often does not account for confounding variables. SC of HCV infection is a complex process arising from a combination of various factors, though a genetic component may play a leading role in some cases. Understanding factors influencing the likelihood of this phenomenon justifies better surveillance of high-risk groups, decreasing health inequities in particular ethnic groups, and may guide the development of a prophylactic vaccine, which at present is not available, or novel therapeutic strategies. Further research is needed to elucidate the exact mechanisms underlying SC and to explore potential interventions that could enhance this natural antiviral response.

Full-text link to the paper: https://doi.org/10.3390/v16091386

I love The Rolling Stones !!!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2024-08-30 21:52 by PiotrRSpl.

...Keith is a great and accurate diagnostician, such as, the LVS (Lead Vocalist Syndrome) condition on his fellow musicians.

After the release of "Life" and Keith describing the LVS condition, it was reported that some scientific minds were amusingly discussing the addition of the LVS condition to the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-08-31 02:03 by Zotz.

Quote
PiotrRSpl
In his autobiography “Life”, Keith recollects being diagnosed as infected with HCV and clearing this infection without any treatment, i.e., experiencing spontaneous HCV clearance. As he writes, “I cured myself of hepatitis C without even bothering to do anything about it”

Doesn't Keith also say in "Life" (or was it some interview?) that he went to some doctor/specialist and had to swallow a giant pill for his treatment?

Unfortunately I can't recall where exactly he said that (maybe others here have that info). What exactly this pill contained was possibly unclear also to Keith himself, to me it sounded like some experimental treatment.

So Keith apparently fibbed a bit when saying he received no treatment at all. (Keith-style tough guy braggadocio?)

Anyway, thanks for the link to the paper!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-08-31 03:46 by doitywoik.

Of course, at this point, we cannot tell beyond any doubt how Keith dealt with the HCV infection. He mentions in Life and one interview that the HCV infection was cleared without treatment.

However, swallowing a giant pill was not how this infection was treated in the 1990s when Keith was diagnosed (note that HCV was not identified until 1989). In the 1990s, hepatitis C could only be treated with interferon, given weekly via subcutaneous injection. Later, interferon treatment was combined with two daily doses of oral ribavirin. These therapies typically lasted 24–48 weeks, produced a lot of side effects (with some patients unable to complete a treatment), and had poor effectiveness. The first oral direct-acting antivirals with high effectiveness and very good safety profiles were introduced in 2015. Although these therapies are shorter, they still last 12-24 weeks. Keith likely has a lucky gene polymorphism that increases the chance of spontaneous viral clearance due to a highly efficient immune response that the majority of infected are lacking and progress to chronic hepatitis C. As also discussed in our paper, overuse of alcohol and intravenous drug use are factors that significantly decrease the odds of spontaneous HCV clearance. Of course, assessing Keith's gene polymorphism would require further study, for which, by the way, all that would now be needed is a hair sample (which some time ago was enough to sequence a whole genome of Ludwig van Beethoven).

Nevertheless, kindly note that our article did not focus on Keith but only used his take on spontaneous HCV clearance to inspire the performed analysis of existing data on this phenomenon and factors influencing the odds of it.



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 2024-08-31 13:32 by PiotrRSpl.

PiotrRSpl - Congratulations to you and team!! What a great story and nice of you to add the Keith bit as an inspiration for your review article

Aren't there SNPs in known loci that influence HCV clearance at least in some specific populations? Perhaps you can ask Keith for consent and sequence his DNA and see if he harbors those polymorphisms . and regardless of the outcome, you could make a second first author publication out of simply sequencing his genome

Great research, and very nice acknowledgement!

Thanks!

wanderingspirit66 - Our review provides a comprehensive overview of some better-known (IFNL3 and IFNL4) and less-explored (HLA, PON1, CD24, RORC, MxA) gene polymorphisms linked to increased odds of spontaneous HCV clearance. Sequencing Keith's genome would provide interesting insights regarding the odds of clearing HCV infection and other issues. It would allow us to determine his polygenic predisposition for various multifactorial diseases by comparing it against a distribution of polygenic risk scores generated from a suitable reference population. Keith once said in an interview, "Doctors all over the world want my body when it finally goes." Well, maybe they do. All that my team needs, Keith, is a generous donation of your biological sample for research



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2024-08-31 13:33 by PiotrRSpl.

Wow.

I had to look it up. Heard about it (HCV) but knew zero.

He could've had it for years and it only became an issue for him when? You know who else had it?

Anita.

Shared needles, pipes and straws - it all involves blood according to [www.webmd.com].

Rats, this probably means the regularly changing his blood story wasn't true.

The italicized remark below stopped me in my tracks. Perhaps it's just me.

All that my team needs, Keith, is a generous donation of your biological sample for research

Quote
Rocky Dijon
Rats, this probably means the regularly changing his blood story wasn't true.

The italicized remark below stopped me in my tracks. Perhaps it's just me.

All that my team needs, Keith, is a generous donation of your biological sample for research

HA HA! Wait - which part? "Generous donation" or "sample"?

Imagine if he did give them blood - it probably has the cure for cancer in it.

Quote
GasLightStreet
Wow.

I had to look it up. Heard about it (HCV) but knew zero.

He could've had it for years and it only became an issue for him when? You know who else had it?

Anita.

Shared needles, pipes and straws - it all involves blood according to [www.webmd.com].

According to Marlon, the cause of Anita's death was the complications of hepatitis C. This indicates that she suffered from a chronic HCV infection that likely irreversibly damaged her liver. She could have (and likely had) it for many years. Although we don't know the exact course of events, it cannot be ruled out that Keith cleared the infection without progression to a chronic state without knowing he even was infected - HCV was discovered in 1989 and after this discovery, the diagnostic tests were developed. If the patient is tested for potential HCV infection, he will first have the presence of anti-HCV antibodies determined. Testing positive is related to 3 possible scenarios: 1) the chronic infection is ongoing, 2) the infection happened in the past but was treated, and 3) the infection happened in the past but cleared spontaneously without treatment. To understand whether the past or present infection is in place, one had to have viral RNA determined in blood. So without knowing any further details, we cannot rule out that in the 1990s, Keith could have antibodies determined, and after testing positive, he was tested for viral RNA just to find out he doesn't have it, hence "I cured myself of hepatitis C without even bothering [knowing?] to do anything about it". Anita, on the other hand, was unlucky. It is likely that she received treatment though the first highly effective and safe direct-acting antiviral was registered for use in 2015 (two years prior to Anita's death); before it, patients were treated with problematic interferon therapies. Nevertheless, eliminating the HCV through treatment will stop it from causing further damage, but will not reverse the damage done to the liver. This is why we need to diagnose infected people as early as possible to initiate the treatment. Hope it provides some clarification.

I love The Rolling Stones !!!



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2024-08-31 23:58 by PiotrRSpl.

ROCKMAN

so you just need a hair sample huh?

quick someone track down that irish girl who yanked out keith's hair in 1965

youtube



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-09-01 05:11 by ProfessorWolf.

Quote
Rockman

Must be the raw onion he eats everyday...

Quote
ProfessorWolf
so you just need a hair sample huh?

quick someone track down that irish girl who yanked out keith's hair in 1965

youtube

I wonder what she did with them - maybe smoked.

Hair samples appear as the easiest to obtain from a variety of biological samples (yes, Ricky, there are other types than the one you thought about ), but the most tricky to analyze the whole genome if the hair sample does not contain roots. In the past, it wasn’t even possible to extract enough DNA to analyze it, but developing novel methods to analyze ancient DNA (for which Svante Pääbo got a Nobel Prize) made it eventually possible. Last year, Beethoven’s genome was sequenced using his hair samples. Funnily, the so-called „Hiller’s lock”, the most known sample allegedly belonging to Beethoven, sold over the years on different auctions and eventually purchased by the American Beethoven Society, was evidenced to come from a person with XX genotype . However, other authenticated samples made calculating the polygenic risk score for different diseases possible. You can read more about it in the original paper and media coverage. It was even evidenced that Beethoven was infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) (which is a DNA virus, contrary to HCV being RNA virus), leading us to hypothesize that HBV could also be, at least partially, responsible for hearing loss that Beethoven experienced – our take on this can be read here. Nevertheless, whatever the sample, Keith’s consent to pursue such research would be necessary.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2024-09-01 14:56 by PiotrRSpl.

You may also enjoy other scientific papers which relate somehow to the Stones.
Some examples:

"Love Is Strong, and You're so Sweet": JAGGER Is Essential for Persistent Synergid Degeneration and Polytubey Block in Arabidopsis thaliana

A management-control system to assist with the development, contracting, and monitoring of new services for older people: you can always get what you want (with apologies to the Rolling Stones)

'Rolling' stoneflies (Insecta: Plecoptera) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber 4

The Rolling Stones: A case report of two surgical abdomens linked by migrating gallstones

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement and the Mick Jagger Phenomenon (well, not really a scientific paper, but an editorial in the cardiological journal)

Quote
Rocky Dijon
Rats, this probably means the regularly changing his blood story wasn't true.

The italicized remark below stopped me in my tracks. Perhaps it's just me.

All that my team needs, Keith, is a generous donation of your biological sample for research

what, you mean like 10 cc?

or a lovin' spoonful?

Quote
PiotrRSpl

Quote
GasLightStreet
Wow.

I had to look it up. Heard about it (HCV) but knew zero.

He could've had it for years and it only became an issue for him when? You know who else had it?

Anita.

Shared needles, pipes and straws - it all involves blood according to [www.webmd.com].

According to Marlon, the cause of Anita's death was the complications of hepatitis C. This indicates that she suffered from a chronic HCV infection that likely irreversibly damaged her liver. She could have (and likely had) it for many years. Although we don't know the exact course of events, it cannot be ruled out that Keith cleared the infection without progression to a chronic state without knowing he even was infected - HCV was discovered in 1989 and after this discovery, the diagnostic tests were developed. If the patient is tested for potential HCV infection, he will first have the presence of anti-HCV antibodies determined. Testing positive is related to 3 possible scenarios: 1) the chronic infection is ongoing, 2) the infection happened in the past but was treated, and 3) the infection happened in the past but cleared spontaneously without treatment. To understand whether the past or present infection is in place, one had to have viral RNA determined in blood. So without knowing any further details, we cannot rule out that in the 1990s, Keith could have antibodies determined, and after testing positive, he was tested for viral RNA just to find out he doesn't have it, hence "I cured myself of hepatitis C without even bothering [knowing?] to do anything about it". Anita, on the other hand, was unlucky. It is likely that she received treatment though the first highly effective and safe direct-acting antiviral was registered for use in 2015 (two years prior to Anita's death); before it, patients were treated with problematic interferon therapies. Nevertheless, eliminating the HCV through treatment will stop it from causing further damage, but will not reverse the damage done to the liver. This is why we need to diagnose infected people as early as possible to initiate the treatment. Hope it provides some clarification.

Yes it does clarify.

When my wife had breast cancer, at first, it was... uhhhh, ok. Then it was figured out what it was and things severely changed, from a 1 to 11. I started collecting information where I could - very little was known about triple negative - and started to put a big picture together that was extremely disjointed. Found a biography about cancer, The Emperor Of All Maladies, that was published 5 years earlier that talked about new technology on the horizon that was current at the time - and some of it on the verge of being outdated already.

Startling book. Through my consumption of anything I could find I was able to understand the doctors better (my wife was way smarter than me - she scared the drs and told them some things that they did not know, it was really intense).

The last three months of her life I stopped reading because there was no point in learning anything anymore, the cancer evolved so fast, 13 times, there wasn't anything else to be done - I was the one that told her she was going to die (I'm quite confident that that moment was the absolute worst I've ever felt mentally and physically at the same time in my life). But it occurred to me, and I got to experience the ones who care and the one's that are just there - the ones that care (and obviously this includes the people doing research or, in my wife's case, inventing new technology constantly so they could work with her biopsies better) are really in it, constantly reading, constantly learning... I'm not talking about surgeons, ha ha, they are on a different planet and I'm pretty sure there's zero oxygen involved, but the people that are constantly eating information and helping, or attempting to help, people.