title: Absence of hepatitis C viral RNA from saliva and semen of patients with chronic hepatitis C.
abstract: Body fluids from 14 patients with chronic hepatitis C were analyzed for the presence of hepatitis C viral RNA using the polymerase chain reaction. Nucleic acids were extracted from serum, saliva, and semen in guanidinium thiocyanate, subjected to reverse transcription, and then amplified by a double polymerase chain reaction technique using "nested" primers from the highly conserved 5' non-coding region of the hepatitis C virus genome. Hepatitis C viral RNA was found in the serum of all patients in titers ranging between 10(-1) and 10(-3). The hepatitis C viral genome was not detected in any saliva or semen sample. These findings suggest that body fluids of patients with chronic hepatitis C are rarely, if ever, contaminated with the hepatitis C virus. This may help to explain the infrequent transmission of this disease by sexual or close physical contact.
authors.affiliation: Liver Diseases Section, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Fried
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shindo
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Fong
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Hoofnagle
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Di Bisceglie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001483:Base Sequence; D002908:Chronic Disease; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D012463:Saliva / Q000382:microbiology*; D012661:Semen / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral