GB virus C in patients with liver disease of unknown etiology

✍ Scribed by E. Quirós; G. Piédrola; C. Maroto

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 18 KB
• Volume: 14
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0887-8013
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2825(2000)14:2<70::aid-jcla6>3.0.co;2-m

✦ Synopsis

To assess the prevalence of GBV-C in patients suffering unknown liver disease we have investigated the GBV-C-RNA in serum of 54 patients: 10 with acute and 32 with chronic non-A-E hepatitis (16 active and 16 persistent), 10 with hepatocellular carcinoma, 2 diagnosed with hepatic fulminant failure, and 91 healthy blood donors (control). PCR with primers from NS3 helicase region was performed and the product was identified by a double strand DNA enzyme immunoassay. GBV appears to infect 40 and 31% of acute or chronic non-A-E hepatitis respectively. Also the GBV genome was found in 1 in 10 samples of hepatocarcinoma, in 2 cases of fulminant hepatitis, and in 1 in 91 of the control group. In spite of these results the role of GBV in the etiology of liver diseases has to be analyzed in more comprehensive studies.