Detection of hepatitis C virus RNA in serum of patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with interferon-α

✍ Scribed by Hideki Hagiwara; Norio Hayashi; Eiji Mita; Keiji Ueda; Tetsuo Takehara; Akinori Kasahara; Hideyuki Fusamoto; Takenobu Kamada

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1992
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 532 KB
• Volume: 15
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0270-9139
• DOI: 10.1002/hep.1840150108

✦ Synopsis

We tested serial serum samples for hepatitis C virus RNA from patients undergoing treatment for chronic hepatitis C with interferon-a using an assay that combined reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction. The subjects studied were 20 patients with chronic hepatitis who had serum antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-C100-3). Before therapy, hepatitis C virus RNA was detected in 18 (90%) and 20 (100%) patients using primer sets derived from the NS3 region or the 5'-noncoding region of hepatitis C virus, respectively. Hepatitis C virus RNA became undetectable in all patients whose ALT level fell into the normal range during therapy. However, hepatitis C virus RNA reappeared in all patients whose ALT levels rose again after therapy, usually before the relapse. In patients whose ALT levels did not become normal, hepatitis C virus RNA did not disappear during therapy. Thus therapy with interferon-cu appears to be beneficial in chronic hepatitis C because of its suppressive effects on hepatitis C virus replication. Detection of hepatitis C virus RNA in serum is useful for evaluating the antiviral effect of interferon (HEPATOLOGY 1992;15:37-41.)

A cDNA clone of genome of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) was isolated from plasma of an experimentally infected chimpanzee by Choo and coworkers (11, who then developed an assay for anti-HCV, which has proved to be a valuable test for the diagnosis of HCV infection (2). Anti-HCV testing has shown that HCV is the etiological agent for most cases of non-A, non-B hepatitis (2-81, and this disease can lead to serious consequences, including cirrhosis and HCC (7-9). Several investigators have reported that interferon therapy is effective in decreasing serum ALT levels and improving liver histological findings in chronic hepatitis C (10-12). However, the relationship between a beneficial response to interferon therapy and suppression of HCV remains unclear.