Detection of hepatitis C virus RNA by nested polymerase chain reaction in sera of patients with chronic non-A, non-B hepatitis treated with interferon.
To evaluate the effect of interferon-alpha treatment on the levels of serum aminotransferase (sALT) and of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-RNA, we studied 19 patients with chronic non-A, non-B (NANB) hepatitis. Before therapy, 14 patients were positive by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with primers deduced from the 5'-non-coding region of the HCV genome. Serum HCV-RNA had disappeared in 12 (85.7%) of them by the end of therapy, but then reappeared 6 months later in 4 of these 12 patients. A marked improvement in sALT was seen in 5 of the 8 patients with sustained HCV-RNA disappearance, but not in the 4 patients with only transient HCV-RNA negativity. Pre-treatment levels of hepatitis C viremia, analyzed by single PCR and dot blot hybridization, ranged from 2 x 10(3) to 2 x 10(8) copies/ml, and were below 2 x 10(5) copies/ml in patients with a complete response to interferon therapy. These results suggest that this HCV-RNA assay, combined with sALT testing, may be useful for estimation of the long-term efficacy of interferon therapy in hepatitis C.
Kobayashi
Y
Y
Third Department of Internal Medicine, Mie University School of Medicine, Japan.
Watanabe
S
S
Konishi
M
M
Yokoi
M
M
Ikoma
J
J
Kakehashi
R
R
Kojima
Y
Y
Suzuki
S
S
D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000382:microbiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*
D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012367:RNA, Viral