After years of research, scientists have uncovered one of the many mysteries behind Hepatitis C: how to grow the virus outside the human body.

For more than eight years, Harborview respiratory practitioner Catherine Lazaro has attempted to cultivate the disease.

“Prior to the study, you could only get the virus to grow in humans,” said Jean Campbell, a UW pathology instructor and researcher.

Lazaro used hepatocyte cells, which form in the liver and have the unique ability to regenerate, to develop the cell culture system: a group of non-infected cells that were then infected to discover more about the disease.

“The cell culture system consists of uninfected cells,” Campbell said. “Next, she had to work with the virus itself to infect those cells.”

Serum, a clear liquid found in the bloodstream, was mixed with the cells, said Ming Chang, a UW research scientist.

With the ability to grow Hepatitis C in the lab, doctors will more easily be able to find possible vaccines, treatments and potential cures for this disease.

Currently, liver transplants are used to treat the disease.

“Transplants are not the most efficient means of curing the disease,” Campbell said. “No cures have been discovered. Once a transplant is done, the virus is still waiting there, it affects the new liver.”

If left untreated, Hepatitis C can result in liver damage, which can lead to serious conditions such as liver cancer or cirrhosis; a condition in which healthy liver tissue is replaced by scar tissue.

“The liver is a large [organ], which produces protein, breaks down foods, produces enzymes for the intestines and breaks down medicine,” Chang said.

Hepatitis-central.com, a Web site specializing in hepatitis information, reports that the disease can infect a patient for decades before being discovered.

It is often called the “silent” epidemic.

“For example, if the disease infects a 25-year-old, symptoms may not appear until the age of 40,” Campbell said. “However, we may be able to prolong these symptoms for at least 10 years with new breakthrough means of treatment.”

Hepatitis C, formerly known as “Non-Hep A and Non-Hep B,” was discovered a little more than 20 years ago.

“For years, people infected with Hepatitis C have longed for further research and probable cures,” Campbell said.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Hepatitis C is contracted when blood from an infected person enters the body of a person without the disease.

It can be spread by people sharing needles or other drug paraphernalia when shooting drugs, exposure to needle sticks or sharp objects in the workplace or from an infected mother to her baby during birth.

According to the CDC, 20 to 30 percent of people with chronic Hepatitis C will eventually face life-threatening symptoms.

“Although we have not found cures to this fatal disease, we are able to prolong the lifespan of its victims,” Campbell said.

Reach contributing writer Chenelle Tyack at development@thedaily.washington.edu.