HCV infection affects lipid metabolism and cholesterol homeostasis in particular. The association of
HCV with lipid metabolism has long been noticed in clinical practice. Liver biopsies of infected patients
present an increase of neutral lipids in cytosolic lipid droplets [3]. Non-A and non-B hepatitis has been
associated with liver steatosis, frequent hypobetalipoproteinemia and reduced blood levels of cholesterol
(reviewed in [4]). It is worth noting that patients infected by genotype 3 viruses are more prone to severe
steatosis, suggesting that specific viral sequences are responsible for lipid accumulation in the liver
(reviewed in [5]). Although several mechanisms have been proposed to account for the viral steatosis,
no experimental model clearly recapitulates the phenotype observed in humans. HCV treatment by
interferon alpha and ribavirin restores the cholesterol and the lipoproteins levels in patient sera [6]. At
the same time, initial virus purification from infected patients sera revealed the low density of the virions
and their association with apolipoproteins [7].