title: Detection of hepatitis C virus RNA by in situ hybridization.
abstract: Persistent infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is associated with chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis which may eventually develop into primary hepatocellular carcinoma. The mechanism of pathogenesis is ill-defined and nothing is known of the distribution, frequency or type of infected cell in the liver of HCV-infected individuals. In this study we have examined liver tissue taken at autopsy from 2 anti-HCV-positive patients by in situ hybridization for the presence of HCV RNA. Viral RNA was detected by autoradiography after hybridization with 125I-labelled riboprobes, representing approximately 35% of the HCV genome. Only a few positive cells were identified in the HCV-infected liver samples, but not in a normal liver sample. Hybridization with an unrelated probe was negative in all samples. The HCV RNA-positive cells were detected with anti-sense but not sense RNA probes, suggesting that they contained a high ratio of genomic:antigenomic RNA. The appearance and distribution of the HCV RNA-positive cells suggested that they were not hepatocytes and were more likely to be lymphocytes or macrophages.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Adelaide, Australia.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Blight
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Trowbridge
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rowland
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gowans
mesh_terms: D001345:Autoradiography; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D008099:Liver / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000737:chemistry; D008264:Macrophages / Q000737:chemistry; D016372:RNA, Antisense; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D007457:Iodine Radioisotopes; D016372:RNA, Antisense; D012367:RNA, Viral